Harvest

In which I rescue my poor bedraggled little saffron crocuses from a weekend of heavy rain and pick out the saffron stamens.  Take that $25 bottle of saffron from the supermarket!

I think I’ll make risotto.

 

I’ve not yet actually cooked with my home-grown saffron, so if we are all poisoned I’ll make sure someone lets you know…

Comments

[Gypsy]

If it poisons you or just doesn't taste that great, at least it is stunningly beautiful! Impressive.

And if you ever go back to store-bought, Cost Plus World Market charges a fraction of what other stores do. I took the price tag off of mine, but I believe it was about $5 for the 1 gram package. (And they have whole vanilla beans $2.99 for a pack of 2! I do love me a bargain.)

[mlle paradis]

Wow! You grow your own saffron! That's a new one on me. How much do the crocuses cost? You were adventurous to grow them in Seattle, aren't they a hot climate plant? Let us know!

And thanks to Gypsy for the Cost Plus tip.

[Paola]

I planted these two years ago and they seem to grown pretty well in Seattle. I knew that saffron crocuses used to be grown a lot in England - Cornwall is famous for saffron buns and there's a place called Saffron Walden in Essex - so I figured that they'd probably grow in Seattle as believe it or not the summers seem to be warmer, drier and quite 'Mediterranean' here. I can't remember where I got the bulbs but I don't think they were super expensive. They were marked as 'saffron' crocuses though and bloom in the autumn.

They grew well the first year and I harvested the saffron but then forgot to use it! Last year I forgot to check them so I've no idea whether they bloomed or not (apparently they only have a two week blooming period). So hopefully this is third time lucky.