[Sca-cooks] grow your own spices? (was) Onion Juice - and Saffron measurements

[ranvaig at columbus.rr.com]

>How hard is saffron to grow?

I've read that saffron isn't hard to grow in temperate climates. 
But.. it only grows from bulbs not from seed.  If it is happy they 
will multiply, but buying enough bulbs to have saffron for feast this 
year, isn't going to be an economic solution.

Buying a few dozen and raising a patch for your kitchen's use is 
possible. A dozen bulbs might give you enough saffron for a pot of 
rice this year, and hopefully two pots next year, and so on.  I did 
some research on this a few years back, but we moved before I could 
plant any.

The handwork harvesting the saffron is why it is so expensive. 
Saffron is the stamens of the specific type of crocus flower, and 
each flower only has a few stamens.  Each flower has to be picked, 
and the saffron separated.

Ranvaig