HOW ABO IT HERBS 



Seventy thousand seven-inch-tall 

 flowers must be picked by hand 

 to yield one pound of saffron, 

 worth — if of the highest quality — 

 nearly $4500.00 on the retail market. 

 This is only part of the hand-labor 

 needed to produce this golden spice 

 from the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. 

 After the flowers are picked, the three 

 bright red stigmas, the saflfron "threads," 

 must be removed from each blossom 

 and carefully dried. 



The world's largest saffron pro- 

 ducer is Spain, but here in 

 America — in Lancaster County, Penn- 

 sylvania, the Amish and Mennonites 

 grow and harvest this golden treasure. 

 They consider it not the most valu- 

 able spice in the world, but the es- 

 sence of their down-to-earth Ameri- 

 can farm food. Chicken pot pie, egg 

 noodle casserole, and saffron tea cake 



Dutch without saffron. 



In 1983, I read in an organic gar- 

 dening magazine an article that told 

 how to grow your own saffron. Natu- 

 rally, I gave it a try. It's so easy that 

 im amazed that more gardeners 

 don't do it on a regular basis. The 

 flower — a lovely light violet-blue — 

 blooms in the fall of the year, a won- 

 derful time for such a garden sur- 

 prise. The leaves are grass-like and 

 appear in summer, ahead of the flow- 

 ers. The plant, grown from corms, is 

 small and makes a perfect potful, 

 making the harvest of your own valu- 

 able and tasty saffron threads incred- 

 ibly easy. You can find saffron in sev- 

 eral bulb catalogs. 



If you really want to grow your 

 own saffron, now is the time to order 

 the Crocus sativus corms. These are 

 not always readily available at garden 



planted earlier in the fall than most 

 other bulbs. You can order them 

 from Bundles of Bulbs, 7091 North 

 River Road, New Hope, PA 18938 

 (telephone is 410-581-2188; catalog is 

 free). They're shipped in August so they 

 can be planted immediately and begin 

 blooming in October. Saffron crocus 

 bulbs need alkaline soil, are hardy in 

 USDA zones 5-8, and do wonderfully 

 in pots. 



Finally, here's the easiest and best- 

 tasting chicken recipe you could ever 

 hope to make. If you want to im- 

 press someone with your culinary 

 skills, this is the recipe for you. It 

 comes from a magazine called "Saveur, " 

 a culinary delight in itself. In the 

 May/June, 1995, issue, you'll find a 

 fascinating article (lots of information 

 plus wonderful recipes) about saffron 

 by Sally Schneider along with color 



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