Saffron

[Odsox]

New for me this year, I'm having a dabble at saffron.
Seems like an ideal container crop for me as apparently they like to flower in autumn, grow through the winter until they die back and then kept bone dry until you want to wake them up again next late summer.

The first flowers came out overnight last night and only last one day, but continue with many flowers per corm, so we shall see. Now to start harvesting with a pair of tweezers

Saffron.jpg (112.42 KiB) Viewed 6957 times

Saffron2.jpg (126.87 KiB) Viewed 6957 times

As you can see they don't all flower at the same time, which is useful.

Did you know we don't have a section for growing spice?
Flowers, vegetables, fruit and herbs, but no spice. Am I the first on here to grow my own spice?

[Brewtrog]

Looks good and I bet it saves a bit (lot) of money.
I've posted up about liquorice, if you want to count that as spice.

[Weedo]

I used to grow saffron when in a more southern (moister and cooler) climate. Pretty much a set and forget plant, just remember to look after the bulb and make sure it has enough to replenish itself at the end of flowering. Definitely tweezers for picking the stigmas! The fresh stuff stains everything, hands, gloves, clothes, kids.

[diggernotdreamer]

wow, you could be a millionaire, it is worth a fortune, all you need now is acres of it

[Weedo]

about 10 acres to yield 1 $million wholesale annually, BUT, this equates to about 60 million corms which all have to be hand planted then hand picked in a very short window.

[Green Aura]

I have two tubs of Saffron Crocus corms. The plants have grown beautifully but not flowered. Maybe it's another thing we need to bring indoors.

I'm thinking it might be easier to live in the polytunnel and use the house as a greenhouse.

[Odsox]

Well I won't be growing saffron again.
I must definitely be a pleb as I can't for the life of me taste anything. When I tried commercial saffron before I thought it must be old stock as I couldn't taste it, but I have now tried lots of really fresh saffron and although it turned rice a rather fetching shade of yellow, it still tastes just like rice.
It is a very pretty flower though.

[Green Aura]

I have two pots of saffron crocuses near the back door. They produce lots of spiky leaves every year but thus far no flowers. Edit - just spotted my post above so should add "still".

It may be a genetic thing, not being able to taste it - not lack of flowers. My OH can't taste bayleaves and insisted for years that it was all just a con until we learned it's some genetic trait (not sure what the purpose of it would be.

Can you smell the saffron? It is quite mild but a very distinctive smell - and of course smell and taste are very closely linked.

[Odsox]

Can you smell the saffron?

I can't say I ever snorted it, maybe that's where I went wrong
Unfortunately I don't have any left to try.

[bonniethomas06]

I use turmeric to make my rice yellow, does the job at a fraction of the cost.

Hahaha snorting saffron! I bet it is more expensive per ounce than most class A drugs!