Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 01:05

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 01:05

:D  :D  :D
The potted saffron crocuses are starting to bloom! well, the early riser of the bunch will be harvested tomorrow it looks like. YAY!
(http://www.stargazy.org/plants/2006/saffron/P1010131.jpg)
So pretty with its little saffron threads sticking out. Annoyingly this means I'll have to check the other half of the bulbs that I planted out at the allotment every day now  :roll:
Such a shame that the people who look at flower bulbs usually aren't interested in the culinary side of it... I bought these bulbs of crocus sativus at the Hampton Court Flower Show this year and there was quite a few of them in their box still while other non-edible flower bulbs were sold out. I'm quite pleased to get a harvest off them after planting them in July.

Please note, don't go eating any old "autumn flowering crocus" they are all poisonious unless you know for sure you have crocus sativus.

Off to google for the best way of plucking those strands out!  :D

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 01:12

ah it's nothing fancy. for some reason i thought i needed tweezers but it's handplucking. wheee!!! :D

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Dawnte on October 13, 2006, 08:12

Beautiful AND edible, what more could you want? :D

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 14:30

Picture of it fully open now. The red strands have been carefully picked out and put in a greaseproof paper muffin liner.
(http://www.stargazy.org/plants/2006/saffron/saffroncrocus1.jpg)

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: greenie on October 13, 2006, 14:46

Very nice and interesting. Do you just cook the red bits and how would you use it in cooking? What does it taste like?

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: jennyb on October 13, 2006, 17:58

would be interesting to work out how much moeny you've saved with this home grown one!!

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 18:31

I suspect since they grow more and more corms(bulbs) they'll pay for themselves someday. I don't have a scale sensitive enough to weigh those 3 strands. I have 10 bulbs... I forgot how much they cost me though. I should get 30 strands of saffron with any luck, though.

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: greenie on October 13, 2006, 18:59

Duh  :oops: didn't realise this was THE saffron as in spice. Never knew it was from a crocus. Must excuse me I am new to growing food.

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Biscombe on October 13, 2006, 21:54

Thought you could only harvest in the second year.....well done

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 13, 2006, 23:02

Quote from: "Biscombe"

Thought you could only harvest in the second year.....well done

Interesting. I had read that you just plant the corms in summer and they come up in autumn. Nothing's really gained by leaving them on the plant if they produce flower so happy blessings to me if that is the usual course. Will keep checking the others that have come up, though ;) Would be quite pleased if I do end up with 30 strands.

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Biscombe on October 14, 2006, 09:56

Got some bulbs here, will give them a go! I'll ignore the 2 year wait on the packet seen as yours look soooo good! Will you be making paella Heather?  :wink:

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: greenie on October 14, 2006, 16:13

OK you've all made me want to add this now to my 'to grow' list  :D

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Oliver on October 14, 2006, 22:55

Quote from: "Heather_S"

Picture of it fully open now...

Lovely picture - love the shadows on the petals. Hope you enjoy eating your saffron!

Title: YAY! Saffron!!
Post by: Heather_S on October 17, 2006, 08:33

(http://www.stargazy.org/plants/2006/saffron/saffroncrocuses.jpg)

Interesting. There appears to be two flowers from one bulb (the one with the flopped over flower was the one I harvested from in the last week).
Guess I'm going to have to go to the allotment sometime today to check the ones there. These ones seemed to appear overnight.

Of course it looks like it might rain today and saffron crocuses are not weather dependent on opening (grr)  :roll: