An experienced gardener in his castle in Clermont (Loire-Atlantique), Louis de Funès had his own ideas about crops and categorically refused to use chemical fertilizers.
“I cultivate my garden. And in my professional life as in my garden patch, I fully intend to exclude turnips!”said Louis de Funès, famous actor of The Big Mopof Horns or Police officer in Saint-Tropez. It must be said that it very rarely crashed, on the big screen or in a greenhouse. Louis de Funès has always been a nature lover. From his early childhood, he was passionate about his father’s garden and dreamed of being an arborist.
The acquisition in 1967 of the Château de Clermont, in Loire-Atlantique, allowed him to express this passion. He maintains a 25 hectare organically grown park with a gardener. “There is no chemical fertilizer no herbicides, no insecticide »he confided during an interview given to the ORTF in 1972. In this park, he takes care of a rose garden which contains more than 600 varieties. Riding a small tractor, he goes from the hives to the greenhouse, including salads. In particular, he brings ladybugs from Morocco, having well understood the auxiliary role of these little creatures.
Tips for eliminating pests in the vegetable garden
His vision of gardening has evolved greatly over the years. At the beginning, like all his contemporaries, he resorted to chemicals. “Before, I messed up everywhere. There were aphids I kept putting pellets, horrors”. Then he decides to simply stop. “The day I stopped, there were already a lot fewer aphids and things calmed down. I no longer took care of anything, the plants were no longer sick they were already better. You know, it’s like us: if you have aphids and I put products in your face, you’re not going to be well. Plants are the same.”
However, if a gardener really wants to intervene to protect his plants from insects and diseases, he can do so naturally. The great actor gives some good advice: “I put powdered horn powdered blood, powdered feathers, bone powder. And all of this replaces chemical fertilizers.” He prepares his own manure which he mixes with seaweed and straw to protect the vegetable garden. Are you still not convinced? “For any surface, it’s much cheaper than chemicals”retorts Louis de Funès.
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The perfect gardener according to Louis de Funès
The one who proclaims himself «humble amateur» – and who has nevertheless studied a lot, notably at the higher school of beekeeping in Paris – thinks that the best gardener must possess certain qualities such as calm, patience and serenity. He must also trust nature more than Man and his questionable interventions. Example with tomato varieties: “I don’t like hybrids, I’m wary of them. Old-fashioned tomatoes, like Marmande, are very good”.
Gardening brought Louis de Funès more than he expected. He even says that this activity saved his life. “I had heart problems. The garden forces me to exercise and walk. Not walking like that quietly but: walking!”he said to a TF1 journalist in 1979, while exaggerating a military step. The perfect gardener must take the time to look with hope “a salad that grows is a marvel, an adventure. But then we eat it, and it’s something else.”.
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