A little late this year my saffron harvest is minimal. Not only has summer gone on and on with little rain but my garden has been rotavated. I carefully dug up, or so I thought, the saffron crocus bulbs I´d planted alongside my steeping stone path.
Expecting no harvest at all this year as the bulbs are still waiting to be replanted, imagine my surprise when up some popped one by one.
Saffron Crocus - crocus sativus
The usual way of harvesting the stamens is to pick the whole flower, then remove the stamen and throwing the flower away. I can´t do that, what a waste. I pick the stamens from the flower while still growing so I´ve got the saffron and can still enjoy the flowers. Simple things!
One or two of the bulbs/corms even flowered in the tray I put them without soil or watering them.
Once dry I put them in an empty glass spice jar. My favourite recipe for saffron, other than paella of course, is Lime and Saffron Chicken.
