At Country Life, we know that many of you are gardeners–fearless gardeners to boot! And we know that many of you cook fearlessly too. How many of you have your own saffron patch that lets you do both?
Norma Storms, a reader from northeast Ohio does. She sent in some photos lately about her favorite fall crop: saffron! She’s got a small planting in her front yard, and all her subdivision neighbors just think that her crocus don’t know to bloom in the spring. They don’t realize the flowers are actually an edible crop! Throughout the year, Norma uses the saffron threads in meals. A member of a historical re-enactment group, she’s also used the saffron in banquet dishes for the group too.
“I got about three times the amount shown below from each harvest last week. I just dry them on toweling, and once they’re dry, I pop them into a tightly sealing container, and use the threads as I need them,” she says. This fall’s crop was a good one, providing her with sturdy, deeply colored threads of saffron.
“It’s easy to grow, just like lots of other bulb plants. I’ve had mine a couple of years, and they produce more and more every fall,” she noted.
