Progress (at last) at secret saffron location!

I had almost given up hope that the saffron crocuses which I planted on the allotment would come to anything, but look what I found this week! After many fruitless inspections I was reluctantly concluding that they must have rotted or been eaten (there were a number of suspicious, rat-sized holes nearby…). I had left this patch of ground pretty much undisturbed as I wasn't really sure what the emerging leaves were going to look like, and suddenly there it was, in all its glory. My first Saffron Crocus.

Sadly I was not there in the pre-dawn darkness, armed with a pair of tweezers to extract the stamen before the sun rose. That, I understand, is the correct harvesting technique for these beauties. But I did very carefully weed around it and I can report that there are a number of others which are about to flower. Now all that remains is to harvest, collect and dry our very own Lincolnshire Saffron.

I will let you know when I have made my first million!

A new Spice Trade

Having been kindly given 4 saffron crocus bulbs (yes, the real thing) by my friend and colleague Jon Whowell, I have a little experiment underway at the lottie. They were planted on 8th August and I have my fingers crossed.    I would never have thought of it myself but now I have the bulbs it has become quite compelling. They are carefully marked and labelled so I don't forget where they are. This would not be a good crop to strim to death. And let's hope they escape the attentions of the Phantom Weeder (see my post of Monday 27th June for more about him or her!)   Of course, I realise that 4 bulbs will not produce much of a crop, but it is a start. Wikipedia tells me that one fresh-picked flower yields an average 30mg (0.03g) of fresh saffron or 7mg (0.007g) of dried saffron. Still, from little acorns, and all that…They will either love the soil at the allotment or hate it. As with all gardening and growing, only time will tell.