[Sca-cooks] Growing saffron (was Isinglass)

[phoenissa at netscape.net]

"Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com> wrote:

>The bulbs are availible for sale from several different sources.  Mine came
>from Texas but they can be gotten on line from lots of different places.

OK - I know that saffron comes from the crocus flower...is it from crocuses in general, or a specific variety?

>Simple, plant, wait, pick.  The first year you will only get a few threads,
>the second year several more, it increases as time goes by.  You do have to
>dig up the bulbs after the second or third year to seperate the new bulbs as
>the original ones duplicate, like any bulb will.

OK, cool :-)  Sounds like a bit of a long-term investment, though!

>I have no idea where you
>live, but I live in Maryland, USA and they grow here.  They come up in the
>fall and you work like hell for a week then it's over.  That is why they are
>so expensive.  One week a year harvest.
>Olwen
>

Ah, ok.  I live in northern California; I imagine they'd do all right here.  The climate is very much like it is in Spain and other countries around the Mediterranean :-)

Then again, by the time my crocus plants are producing more than a few threads a year, I'll be off in grad school in who knows WHAT part of the world...maybe this wouldn't be so practical for me after all.  It still sounds really cool though!  I'd always assumed it was possible to grow one's own spices, of course, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who actually did it.  I'm rather impressed :-)

Does anyone else here grow their own spices?  I'm sure many of us have herb gardens (I have a little pot of rosemary which refuses to grow), but what about more unusual things like saffron?  Any truly unique fruits or veggies?  I'm curious to know what's out there...and to see if any of it is worth planting in my small and weedy backyard :-)

Vittoria the Inquisitive


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