In the vegetable garden in May, the flowers and vegetables wake up slowly in the morning. The temperatures have grown warmer. Bees emerge from their hives and begin to explore the fields and gardens in search of precious nectar. As soon as humans are absent, the plants and animals talk to each other.

The nasturtium turns to the small plant and says:

“What a beautiful day, isn’t it, Mr Pepper?”

He replies:

“Oh yes, nasturtium, it is incredibly sunny. I hope we will get to see bees today.”

“You are right my dear friend, I am in great need of a little primping and new flowers. Let’s attract the bees with our scent.”

At this point, the neighbouring courgettes, jealous of not having any flowers yet, all grumble together:

“No, no, no, we don’t want to see the bees, their buzzing is deafening and stops us from enjoying a nap in the early afternoon, when the heat is strong.”

Mr Pepper is shy and feels embarrassed; he turns all his small white flowers, ashamed and upset. He no longer speaks. Seeing this, the nasturtium turns bright orange and says to the courgettes:

“But you are shouting at my dear friend Mr Pepper! I won’t have it. We need bees. If they don’t visit our flowers, we can’t produce seeds and we disappear. Besides, thanks to us, they can produce honey.”

Then the old cauliflower speaks up and everyone listens to the wise man of the vegetable garden:

“The nasturtium is right, we exist thanks to the bees which, by carrying pollen, allow us to produce seeds and feed humans. I am going to tell you a story.”

All the vegetables in the garden turn to the old cauliflower, even those that have remained silent. The leeks, radishes and herbs listen very carefully.

“When a bee leaves the hive, its mission is to bring back nectar for the colony. To do this, it will remember the path it took and the places with the most flowers. The vegetable garden is a place chosen by the bees because we welcome them with our colourful petals. Their visit allows us to produce seeds for new fruits and vegetables, to become an abundant garden.”

At that moment a small noise pierces the air.

Bzzzz Bzzz Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A bee appears in the blue sky and all the vegetables look up at it.

Mr Pepper recognizes Lucy the nectar-gathering bee in her flight. He comes out of his silence and calls to her:

“Lucy! Lucy! Come here. We were just talking about you.”

Lucy the bee stops and comes down to land on a nasturtium. She says:

“How happy I am to see you all again after the long winter. We can finally collect nectar. We will visit you every day. The other foragers should be here soon.”

Lucy then goes and sits on Mr Pepper’s white flowers. He is happy because he will be able to grow beautiful vegetables.

One after the other, all the flowers in the garden are visited. Their pistils are covered in pollen and the garden will produce a lot of food this year.

The end