flowery french fields

by Sharon Santoni
Remember Monet’s pictures of poppies in wheat fields?  Those were the days before selective weed killers and maximum return on crops, but in today’s farming world our birds and bees have a hard time finding pollen and food.
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Farmers have kept a ‘green’ border to their fields for many years, but more recently  the famous French biscuit manufacturer LU, created a project encouraging farmers to lay aside a small border on their fields to be sown with  flowers.  Packets of seeds were distributed, cornflowers, sunflowers, cosmos, escholzia and many others depending on the region.
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LU is a major consumer of wheat flour and this way they hope to improve their corporate image as well as the fashionable bio friendly image of their biscuit.

In the meantime, whatever the motive behind the operation, we get to enjoy flower-edged fields all over the valley, and maybe the best bit of all, nobody stops to pick the flowers, everyone has understood they are there for a reason and the best way to enjoy them is to let them grow where they stand.

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35 comments

Dash September 26, 2011 - 12:50 pm

Beautiful, I adore Cosmos.
XXX

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Alison September 26, 2011 - 1:13 pm

Oh how beautiful.
x

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Eliane Zimmermann September 26, 2011 - 1:22 pm

what a delightful look, how nice a measure for the insects even though it's just marketing… i adore the sight of cosmos.

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LaPouyette September 26, 2011 - 1:30 pm

Love all the cosmos, we had them at La Pouyette years ago and now farmers have them here as well.

Wonderful images!

Bonne semaine,karin

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andy September 26, 2011 - 1:31 pm

wow that sums it up in one word!!!

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Darla September 26, 2011 - 1:47 pm

Love this!!!!!

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Sarah (Snippets of Thyme) September 26, 2011 - 1:49 pm

That is wonderful to read and see.

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Rabia Koray September 26, 2011 - 1:51 pm

çok güzel!!! Beautiful.

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IAMSNOWFLAKE September 26, 2011 - 2:09 pm

wow, what a beauty! I wish it could be implemented in the fields along the highways here in Argentina. It would certainly bring a smile to everyone driving along and improve their days.
Thanks so much for sharing.

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once in a blue moon September 26, 2011 - 2:51 pm

what vision…

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webb September 26, 2011 - 3:05 pm

What a great idea. Don't you love it when corporate need and community gardens can come together?

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Suffia September 26, 2011 - 3:15 pm

It's absolutely beautiful. I love cosmos.

Suffia

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I Dream Of September 26, 2011 - 3:56 pm

Gorgeous. Cosmos are such a happy flower!

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hopflower September 26, 2011 - 4:44 pm

I think many companies are starting to realize that they must put back something when they take so much out. Good for them. It shows awareness and caring. At least they do not behave like Monsanto! I think I will go find some LU and bring a packet home.

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Stephanie September 26, 2011 - 5:00 pm

what a terrific idea!

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Karmen September 26, 2011 - 5:01 pm

Hi Sharon! I discover that You follow my blog, which is in estonian and not very much pictures – that was so good surprise. Thank You!
So nice pictures about flowers – cosmos is even in vase very beautiful mixed other flowers. In this summer I used they a lot in my home.

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Andrea September 26, 2011 - 5:03 pm

I love this look of natural, wildflowers. When we moved to our new house this summer, we thought, oh look, pretty purple wild flowers. Then we realized they're thistles (pretty from afar, but nasty weeds!) and we are under bylaw to get rid of them. I told my hubby that I'd like to get a packet of wildflowers and spread them in that section of field =)

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Amy September 26, 2011 - 5:11 pm

How lovely! And how French to make even the biscuit-flour fields aesthetically pleasing.

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Lorrie September 26, 2011 - 5:37 pm

Oh, I love this – planting flowers for the bees and other creatures. Beauty for a reason.

I planted one package of cosmos 9 years ago and seeds from those original flowers still appear year after year to add delight to the garden.

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Katherine September 26, 2011 - 8:30 pm

I applaud the good people at LU, and to you; for the small and important steps needed to take care of this beautiful earth.
The beauty of the flowers is a wonderful thank you from Mother Nature.

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Karen September 26, 2011 - 11:28 pm

We were in Napa Valley, California for a wedding recently and I had noticed a lot of the vineyards had done the same thing…it's so lovely to look at and if left natural, so beneficial to the birds and bees. How pretty the images you sent us are.
Karen

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Looking Glass September 27, 2011 - 4:18 am

How beautiful! Such a wonderful idea too.

~ Clare x

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Trudys Emporium September 27, 2011 - 9:26 am

What a lovely story & the flowers look amazing, the colour how happy it would make people. Trudy x

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Hanne Bente September 27, 2011 - 9:30 am

Hejsa.
Smuk, smuk blog du har.
Jeg har tilføjet mig som følger.
Ønsker dig en god tirsdag.
Knus Hanne Bente
http://www.finus.dk

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Maria September 27, 2011 - 11:34 am

I swear I must be part French! I adore Cosmos, I throw seeds throughout my vegie patch to bring in the bees! Keeps the weeds down too!. C'est magnifique!

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Julie@beingRUBY September 27, 2011 - 12:38 pm

Gorgeous Sharon… such a wonderful way to preserve the fields..We have rosemary and lavender growing along our beach front courtesy of the local council..

Have a great new week.. ciao xxx Julie

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The enchanted home September 27, 2011 - 1:27 pm

So beautiful! What a neat way to keep the fields intact. Loved this inspirational story….

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Desire Empire September 28, 2011 - 12:36 am

Thanks you for yet another wonderful snippet of French life. Who would have thought that those beautiful field of poppies were under threat. Nothing is sacred anymore.
I check in everyday for your wonderful posts. Have a great week.

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nehoC September 28, 2011 - 6:17 pm

I have admired them, and the rondpoints, for years.

Last year I bought a box or two of the seeds from Monsieur Bricolage and now I have a patch of France in my English garden!

CC

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Angie Muresan September 30, 2011 - 4:15 am

Gorgeous! I would fill my house with those beauties.

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Hilltop Farm July 23, 2013 - 6:41 am

Love cosmos and LU biscuits – especially Le Petite Ecolier!

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Last week I went to this flower field to take pictures. Flappy Bird

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