VIDEO. Maëva cultivates immortelle in Corsica

“It really is a flower that is part of our home”. It was after a soil analysis and a desire to work the land that Maëva started growing immortelles. For her, this arid region, in the Agriates desert, was an excellent place for these flowers. “We don’t have much rain. The immortal is doing well. It is a plant that does not like humidity, which needs draining soil, where water does not stagnate. Despite the climatic constraints, I knew that I could work this plant for a long time.”, indicates Maeva. With the help of her sheep, she weeds four hectares and takes care of her crops all year round.

“I think we want to go back to basics”

As soon as the flower opens, the farmer harvests it, while paying attention that it does not turn in the sun. “We install them in white sheets, which we lock up. Then we take it to the distillery, you have to be fast enough so that the flower doesn’t turn, so that it ferments, so that there is no problem with the oil.”. And its culture for its many virtues is not new. “It is mainly found to have anti-hematoma properties. It’s very good for burns, for healing. A drop is enough, which is mixed with a cream, in addition, so it is a precious nectar. Old people and shepherds used it. If they hurt themselves, they made poultices with the immortelle flower. We have always had immortelle, even in our childhood. There are always some in the houses”.

For Maëva, cultivating land is also the assurance of the transmission of know-how, a desire that increasingly affects Corsican youth. “This region has long been abandoned, and there are more and more farmers there. I think we want to go back to basics, in fact, that Corsican youth want to go back to basics and want to go back to agriculture. It’s so complicated right now, life, so we want to go back to basics”, she confides.