Kilan Squamish Saffron
What is Saffron?
Saffron is generally used as a food flavoring or coloring and tends to be either orange, yellow or most commonly found, purple in coloring. Saffron is predominantly a spice and is added to a lot of curry or spicier dishes. The dried stigmas of the plant are picked from the saffron crocus, which is a plant that can grow up to 30 centimeters in size. In ancient times saffron was used as medicine for a cough or a cold or even flatulence! Partly because of those particular health benefits, saffron can be included in a healthy and balanced diet. Saffron is rich in potassium, carbohydrates and protein, but should only be consumed in small quantities (20-30 grams max!).
The plant is usually found in the warmer climates of the Mediterranean and the sub-continent but fear not, saffron can be grown in the UK! By growing your own saffron, you would save on the costly price of purchase or perhaps sell it to make some money. The reason the plant is so expensive though is due to the labor involved to produce the threaded plant. It is still packed in the same way it has done for centuries by farmers and it cannot be distributed on the same scale in time and volume as other plants. Fortunately, how to grow saffron is something that has been taught widely across the globe for many years.
How to grow Saffron?
Now down to the details of how to grow saffron. The saffron crocus can be grown in the UK as the plant is particularly durable to our winter cold as well as the summer warmth (the little we get of it, anyway!). You can quite easily grow saffron on your patio in a well-drained container or border. Growing or planting your saffron is not an arduous task either. Find an area of your garden that tends to get a fair amount of sunlight and plant the bulb around late spring/early summertime.
Picking the right soil
It is important that you pick the right soil for your plant as this is the most integral part of growing ‘red gold’. You will need a versatile soil type that will allow for draining and ventilation. Look to use rich, earthy soil to grow your saffron. The plant also needs little to no maintenance as you will only need to water it once every few weeks if that!
Planting saffron
You need to plant the bulb 4-5 inches deep into the soil and make sure they are 6 inches apart from each other. 50-65 flowers will produce you on a tablespoon of saffron. You will find that the autumn time will bring about a beautiful bloom of your saffron. You will only find that half of your corms will produce one flower but this productivity doubles by the next year.
Harvesting saffron
Once harvest comes around in October time, look to use tweezers to extract the 3 red filaments of the stigma. If you are only looking to trim the flower, then this can also be done with tweezers or alternatively, you can use your own nails for this too! The yellow stems and purple petals are not of use when harvesting.
During planting
Harvesting saffron During planting Be sure to be aware of the dangers of violet root rot and fusarium amongst other predators that can either rot or severely damage your saffron plant. If you see any signs of browning plants or uncommon growth then look to replant your bulbs in a separate area where possible!
Drying saffron
You will need to look too dry your plant after you have picked the particular filaments you would like. Look to dry your saffron out in a room that has a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius or higher. You will only need to let your saffron dry for 15-20 minutes or so before it is ready for cooking use. And if you are not ready to use your saffron right away, then store in an airtight container!
Is Growing Saffron Profitable?
There may be a few reasons why saffron is considered the most expensive spice in the world. A tablespoon of saffron is around 50 to 60 saffron flowers. And each saffron bulb produces one flower, and each flower produces three stigmas. Saffron flowers bloom a week every year. In addition, the saffron flower will multiply every year. Thus, you will have more and more saffron flowers each year that you can plant and sell for profit.
There are talks about the price of saffron ; many people call it red gold. A pound of saffron can be sold from $500 to $5000 for wholesale and $5000 to $10000 retail price. But, as mentioned above, to get a tablespoon of saffron, you are going to need around 50 to 60 saffron flowers. Just imagine how many saffron flowers you are going to need for a KG of saffron.
Growing saffron is for sure profitable, but it requires a lot of land.
Maintaining Saffron Flower
Saffron does not require much care. But, it is important for soil that is well-drained, as the saffron bulb could rot in a moist environment. In the previous paragraph, the bulbs of saffron must be planted at least 4 inches deep since they are prone to grow and spread out 6 inches from each other. Saffron plants do love sunlight. So, it is best to plant them outdoors in direct sunlight. This is crucial since it will help them grow and have an extended period of time before you need to change them out with a new bulb made of saffron.
Planting Season
Plant the saffron bulbs during fall. Saffron needs drained soil and tons of sunlight. Saffron bulbs should be planted a few inches deep and a few inches apart. They are very low maintenance, and there isn’t much that you should do once they are planted.