Möt Pascale Chérubin
Immortelle Grower in Corsica
FIRST WOMAN TO CULTIVATE IMMORTELLE IN CORSICA
LEFT CITY LIFE BEHIND FOR ORGANIC FARMING
Pascale was born and raised in the Marne region, surrounded by the rolling vineyards of Champagne, and met her husband in Paris. However, it was only when her husband was offered a new job that Pascale’s great adventure began. The family left the wide boulevards of Paris for the flower-filled countryside of Corsica, where she discovered and fell in love with Immortelle. “It was the perfect place for us,” she says. “A rural lifestyle in a unique and unspoilt environment.”
In Corsica, Pascale put her degree in environmental biology and her experience as a teacher to good use. She began training future farmers in soil management and crop production, and joined CIVAM Bio Corse, an organisation that helps farmers transition to organic farming methods.
Pascale realised that growing demand for Immortelle was putting pressure on Corsica’s natural ecosystem, and that cultivating the flower herself could help protect the landscape. She explains:
“Essential oil has been distilled from Immortelle in Corsica since the 1990s, but it was produced from wild-harvested flowers. Cultivating Immortelle helped reduce overharvesting and marked the beginning of a new industry on the island, thanks to L’Occitane. That is why I decided to grow Corsican Immortelle.”
Wanting to lead by example, Pascale and her family began searching for a farm of their own.
PASCALE AND IMMORTELLE – A LOVE STORY
Pascale’s fascination with this fragrant and beneficial flower stems from its remarkable resilience. “I love the Immortelle flower because it is both hardy and refined,” she explains. “It has a beautiful fragrance and produces a precious essential oil. It grows in extremely challenging conditions, yet remains so beautiful. I love that combination of strength and beauty.”
Pascale also appreciates how her passion for the flower has become part of everyday life. “I don’t work in the fields every day, but my family and I live surrounded by them,” she says. “Immortelle has become part of our daily lives, and we live with it every day.”
SOWING WILD SEEDS TO PRESERVE THE LANDSCAPE
In 2006, CIVAM Bio introduced Pascale to L’Occitane and, by chance, she found the perfect farm at around the same time. Pascale recalls how it all began: “At first, we collected wild seeds and sent them to a nursery in Romans-sur-Isère, France, for germination. The young plants were then sent back to us for planting,” she says. “People walking past were amazed and wondered what we were growing in a field full of stones.”
Today, Pascale waters her Immortelle plants with natural rainwater and nourishes them with a small amount of organic fertiliser. The flower is perfectly suited to the hot, dry climate and the thin, rocky soils of Corsica.
THE RHYTHM OF FLOWERS AND FAMILY LIFE
Today, Pascale’s home sits at the heart of the fields, surrounded by a beautiful sea of pale yellow flowers. Family life follows the rhythm of the farm. The harvest takes place during the last two weeks of June or the beginning of July, just as summer arrives on the island and the school holidays begin. While it may sound idyllic, the lifestyle comes with its challenges, as Pascale explains:
“Every year brings new surprises. We face storms, equipment breakdowns and safety risks. It can be very stressful.”
On the very day the flowers are harvested, Pascale sends them to her friend Stephan Francisci, a distiller. Speed is essential to prevent the flowers from fermenting, which can affect the quality of the oil. Pascale and Francisci work closely together to ensure the highest possible standards.
Work in the Fields Before Harvest
After the harvest, the scorching July sun dries out the soil. The Immortelle plants enter a dormant phase and do not awaken until the first autumn rains arrive. Every three weeks during autumn and spring, Pascale uses her tractor to remove weeds from the fields.
Less than a month before harvest, Pascale and her neighbours attach the mower to the tractor so everything is ready when the time comes. Timing is crucial: “If you harvest too early, the plants haven’t produced all their oil yet. If you harvest too late, the wind and heat will have dried them out. In both cases, you risk losing a significant amount of oil.”
A REWARDING PARTNERSHIP
In 2006, when Pascale and L’Occitane first began working together, cultivating Immortelle as an alternative to wild harvesting was still relatively new in Corsica. L’Occitane shared its expertise in lavender cultivation, helping to develop new farming methods for this remarkable flower.
Since then, both Pascale and L’Occitane have continued to benefit from the partnership. L’Occitane works with a dedicated Immortelle grower who supplies this exceptional ingredient, while Pascale benefits from L’Occitane’s ongoing support through both good times and challenging ones, including when her farm and land were damaged by fire. Thanks to this partnership, Pascale has been able to continue doing what she loves most: cultivating the precious Immortelle flower.