In the Normandy countryside and along the coast, the cultivation of fibre flax is a tradition. Once the flax stalks have reached maturity, they are pulled out and laid on the ground to be retted. Thanks to the sun, dew and rain, the stalks turn red and the pectins that bind the fibres dissolve. After 3 to 9 weeks of retting, the flax grower brings a straw sample to the scorer to check the quality of the fibre. They decide together whether the flax should be picked up and rolled into bales or whether it should wait for another rain shower to refine the retting.