Le Talus grows vegetables on a stretch of ground that used to be nothing, in the 12th arrondissement, and it runs as an association: membership is pay-what-you-want and it takes two minutes. Inside there's market gardening, pick-your-own, a second-hand shop, an organic canteen and bar, a rooftop, a pétanque pitch, and open airs when the programme allows. What makes it different from a terrace is the participatory work sessions: you sign up on your own, you're put on a bed with people you've never met, and you spend two hours pulling things out of the ground and asking each other whether that one was a weed. Conversation isn't something you have to start here, it comes with the task. In August the farm is open on Wednesdays and on Friday evenings.