F.A.Q. (Frequently asked questions)
Graine de vie is a nursery of aromatic and medicinal plants, located in altitude (650/700m), in the heart of Combrailles, at the limit of Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme. Vincent started alone in 2010 in this nursery activity, joined recently by Murielle : a duo that complements each other perfectly!
We have 2 cold greenhouses of 200m² each which allows us to multiply (seedlings, cuttings) and to protect the young plants from the cold, a space of 200m² in the open air dedicated to the plants in cups for their natural development. The mother plants are planted in culture on 1000m². To discover our working (and living!) environment: Our nursery in pictures .
The work (soil, harvesting and sorting of seeds...) is entirely manual. The soil used for the production of the plants comes from our compost. To know more about our methods.
All the production (seeds and plants) is made on the farm, without peat in the substrate and without chemicals, it is labeled according to the specifications of the SIMPLES.
We produce and sell our own seeds and potted plants. It is possible to come but we advise you to contact us a few days in advance.
Our "playground" is huge, our work rhythm in Spring and Autumn is sustained, so it is difficult for us to manage phone calls well.
In case of absence, you can leave us a voice message, but the ideal is to join us via the contact form. In any case, we will do our best to answer you as soon as possible.
We have a decreasing price depending on the quantities. For any specific request, do not hesitate to contact us.In terms of deadlines, if you need larger quantities (100 plants and more) for your project, let us know well in advance, time to multiply them: either in September/ October for the beginning of Spring, or late winter for the end of Spring.
Every year we receive many requests for internships. We are committed to being able to welcome in good conditions but this requires availability to encourage mutual exchanges. Therefore, we only welcome a few interns per year, on an ad hoc basis in the spring or fall (corresponding to a few weeks per year only). December, January and February are not conducive to this.
Ask us for 2024!
Please excuse us in advance if you have not received a response to your request… , this not means out of disinterest for you and your project.
We have chosen to have only the mention SIMPLES because its specifications is particularly demanding, in terms of environmental protection, conservation of resources and ecosystems, methods of production and harvest, etc. We would also like to see better recognition by AB certification bodies of this level of requirement.
To preserve the seeds, the best is to have a hygrometry rate and a low temperature and especially to avoid their incessant variations.
When the seeds are preserved in good conditions, the life span (so that the seeds still germinate at least at 30 %) from the year of harvest is :
- About 1 to 2 years for some species, such as angelica or wild garlic, which do not keep very long. We are therefore careful to offer for sale only the seeds from the year's harvest.
- Most of them last 3 to 4 years; sometimes more, like amaranth (about 10 years).
We advise you to start with plants that are easy to grow such as cornflower, mallow, calendula, marshmallow... The articles on the blog (only in French) are there to help you.
You should know that it is very rare that the seeds of a bag do not germinate at all.
If your seedling does not germinate at all, there are strong chances that the growing conditions were not favorable to the emergence (lack or excess of water, insufficient or excessive temperature, insects, slugs, birds, seeds too buried...).
Yes, you need to register to My Account if you want to create a cart and place an order. However, you can of course browse the site without creating an account.
We do our best to ship your orders as soon as possible upon receipt of payment (including payments by check).
Generally, they are shipped within a few days to a week, but this processing time may be slightly extended if we are away for several days, especially for markets or fairs.
The orders of plants are preferably sent on Monday and Tuesday so that they are delivered before the weekend, because it is also necessary to count the delay of routing of the Post office or Chronopost which is, generally, of 48h.
Potted plants called "on order" are being multiplied, which means that you will have to wait a few weeks to a few months to receive your order.
- If your order includes a part of plants on order, we will wait until all the plants are ready to send it to you (complete order, in a single package), we will contact you before sending.
- If your order also includes seed packets, we usually send all the seeds in a separate letter so as not to delay your sowing (shipping costs at our charge).
We note on each bucket the vernacular name of the plants. To learn more about their cultural characteristics, their uses, etc., we invite you to download the product sheets available in pdf.
Make your basket among the products available (seeds and/ or plants). When checking your order, enter the coupon code received via the virtual card and validate. The amount of the gift certificate will automatically be deducted from the total of your products. Continue your order, it is probably that you have a rest to pay (additional products, delivery costs).
Validity period: 1 year