Virginie Bruguier is a producer of medicinal and aromatic plants, specializing in roses. With Fleurs d’arTisane, the farmer offers harvest and distillation days for her Damascus roses, during the month of May in Saint-Gervais.
A day entitled “Printemps en roses”. Producer of medicinal and aromatic plants in Saint-Gervais, Virginie Bruguier offers four days to harvest and distill her Damascus roses during the month of May. With Fleurs d’arTisane, the farmer has 250 rose bushes in an agricultural plot located in her village.
“I also have a few on my property but most of them are over there”indicates Virginie Bruguier. To start the day, the farmer introduces visitors to picking Damascus roses. “When they start to open, we can go there. We do a first test harvest at my place, before going to the plot”.
Once arriving in the field, visitors begin the harvest which lasts around 30 minutes and take the opportunity to smell the beautiful scent of the roses. “I love it! My group of students in my dance school gave me this day because I constantly talk about roses”says Isabelle, who came with her friend Jacques, who lives in Besançon.
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A two-hour distillation
The latter had never harvested roses before and took advantage of this beautiful sunny day to learn. “It’s a good activity to discover local heritage and culture. I do a little gardening but mainly for fruits and vegetables. I’m trying to understand how it works with roses to possibly reproduce it on a smaller scale“.
At the end of the harvest, visitors return to Virginie Bruguier for the distillation of the roses, which lasts around two hours. “This allows you to make rose water. At the end of the day, everyone leaves with their bottle!”. In addition to rose water, the farmer produces rose syrup, rose flower jelly, herbal teas and even natural cosmetics.
