Fruit jellies and syrups - La ferme Simone

Established in 2023 at Collet-de-Dèze in Lozère with her partner Anthony, Maïa produces organic fruit, vegetables and saffron.

Maïa was born in Aix-en-Provence. She spent many childhood vacations at her grandmother Simone's house in Collet-de-Dèze. After graduating with a degree in law, she embarked on a master's degree in art market management. Her dream at the time was to become an auctioneer. After an internship at Tajan, the famous auction house, she decided to change direction.

It was fun, but I realized it wasn't for me. I wanted to be in the country and be my own boss. I thought about retraining to be an antique dealer or a teacher, but I couldn't pass the exam. So I decided to take a trip to find myself. And that's when I discovered and got a taste for camping on a farm.

After traveling around Europe and Asia for almost 2 years, Maïa confirmed her passion for rural life by working on farms in Australia producing blueberries, avocados and kiwis.

In 2021, she returned to her grandmother's house and took the Brevet Professionnel Responsable d'Entreprise Agricole (BPREA) at Florac-Trois-Rivières, which enabled her to realize her dream of settling on the family land. She then combined this with a job as a night supervisor at a secondary school to ensure a regular income.

The training was super motivating. There were 15 of us with different projects but the same energy. And it was the^1st time I'd ever been paid to go to school!

The^1st year we started by selling saffron plants and bulbs from the^1st spring. This worked well, as there are quite a few gardeners in the area. I liked the idea of sowing and then knowing that these seeds would grow and produce vegetables around us."

We also sell seedlings from May to June, then we do market gardening and sell our vegetables and saffron bulbs. We also process chestnuts, saffron and dried fruit. We also do a little savoury processing, but this remains limited.

We're very careful about the inputs we use, and make sure that the whole process is respectful of this preserved environment.

The Esprit Parc Nationalapproach is a unifying factor. It enables us to communicate with other professionals who share our values. It's a real advantage to be in a National Park. It's what makes the region so attractive, and to be able to develop a business that respects this unspoilt setting is a unique opportunity.