Saffron Gardening: Turning Dirt Into Gold.
This past winter I was reading up on the spice Saffron and found that it was good for a variety of things such as detoxing the body from heavy metals. It is also a highly prized spice in and of itself. So I decided to price it on Amazon and found it selling for around $100 per ounce; more than what I was willing to pay for a bit of spice. But I continued reading further and found that the Saffron spice is easily harvested from the Saffron flower. So, I decided to give Saffron gardening a go and ordered a batch of 20 Saffron bulbs.
When the Saffron bulbs arrived in the mail, they looked dry and dead. But I planted them hoping at least half of them would germinate. To my surprise the 20 bulbs have all sprouted creating over 25 Saffron sprouts! They should flower in the fall from what I understand. Right now I am trying to keep the cats and the armadillos from digging the bulbs up. If all goes well we will get our first taste of Saffron sometime in August or September.
I am now considering planting more Saffron this fall to double our crop next spring. After 2 years the Saffron bulbs will multiply making it necessary to break them up and replant the extras to encourage more flower production. It's pretty amazing to me that with an initial investment of only $20 for the bulbs you end up producing something that is valued at over $100 per ounce; not quite as expensive as gold, but definitely more valuable that silver. Looking forward to seeing how it goes with rice!
I do not yet have any pictures of our Saffron flowers, but below is stock footage of Saffron found on Google. I will post our own pictures when they become available this fall.
Cool! I'm always joking with my wife about growing Saffron!! I never knew the bulbs was that cheap! So about how much do you think you will get per plant?
Each flower produces three small strands of Saffron. Once dried I doubt it will amount to much. But from 20 plus flowers I hope we get at least a few grams for our personal use. To raise on an industrial scale will take time to get the beds established so that the bulbs will multiply, and then a lot of patience to hand pick the flowers and separate the spice from each blossom. To raise these guys for profit will most likely take a few acres of land and a lot of time tending the beds and learning from experience. When we harvest our flowers this fall I will be sure to give an update as to how much spice 20 flowers will produce. But, no matter what, it is a fun plant to grow!
Ya, I figured I would grow it for our own use...maybe save a few dollars. Anyhow, let me know how it goes.
BTW: THANKS FOR THE RESTEEM!
Appreciate it. :-)
great stuff :) i look forward to seeing them!
Wow, that's pretty cool. I'd like to try that as I'm starting to look into unconventional crops.
I am finding they are pretty easy to get started. I want to try bringing some bulbs in for the winter and seeing if they will flower inside during the cold seasons. It would be nice to have a year long supply. :-)
Great post dear..upvoted:))