Growing Saffron
Every year, I look forward to growing the rare and vivid crimson-colored spice called saffron.
Saffron comes from a flower called crocus sativus, also known as ‘saffron crocus’. It is a beautiful, aromatic, purple flower with bright red threads, or stigmas, which make up the luxurious spice. It is grown extensively in southeastern Asia and parts of the Mediterranean region. Over the last few of years, my longtime friend, and the founding craft editor for Martha Stewart Living, Hannah Milman, has planted thousands of saffron corms right here at my farm. This season, we decided to plant a crop in one of the raised beds of my giant half-acre vegetable garden. Saffron is planted in late summer and then harvested by hand from late October to early November.
Enjoy these photos of how Hannah does the entire process and please follow her on Instagram @hannahcmilman to learn more about saffron.
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- Hannah first started planting saffron at my farm in 2020. She’s planted thousands and thousands of corms every year since – under the quince trees near my blueberry patch, under the London plane and cotinus allée, beneath the ‘Gravenstein’ apple espalier, and now in my giant vegetable garden.
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- This vegetable garden is a great area for planting saffron because the beds are filled with nutrient-rich composted soil made right here. Saffron does best in hardiness zones 5 to 8 in full to partial sun. This garden gets at least five or six hours of direct sunlight per day. Here, Hannah begins making all the holes for the corms. With such a large crop, the holes must be precisely spaced.
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- Saffron is planted in late summer. The main tool for planting saffron corms or any small bulbs is a dibber, which is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground.
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- The compact corms are small, brown globules that can measure as large as two-inches in diameter, have a flat base, and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibers referred to as the “corm tunic”. Do you know the difference between a corm and a bulb? Both corms and bulbs are parts of the plant that store food to help it grow and bloom. A bulb is a plant stem and leaf that grows underground in layers. A tiny version of the flower is at the center of the bulb. Tulips, lilies, iris, daffodils and onions are examples of bulbs. A corm is an underground stem that serves as the base for the flower stem and is solid, not layered.
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- Using the dibber, Hannah creates a hole at least four to six inches deep. In general, holes should be three times deeper than the length of the corm or bulb. For planting smaller corms like these, the dibber is the prefect tool – fast and efficient.
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- And then one by one, each corm is carefully placed in a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly. When purchasing bulbs and corms, always look for those that are plump and firm, and avoid those that are soft. Hannah also waits until all the holes are filled before covering with soil, so she can keep track of what has been planted where.
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- By early October, the saffron sprouts are visible. They emerge with thin, straight, and blade-like green foliage leaves, which expand after the flowers have opened. Here, one can also see the small flower emerging from the center.
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- The lilac-colored flower appears next. The blooms last about three weeks
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- By the middle of October, most of the saffron blooms are open all over the bed. Look how straight the rows are – they’re all developing perfectly.
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- It is the bright red-orange threads of saffron, the stigmas, or female portion, of the saffron crocus flowers that make up the spice. Three stigmas are borne in the center of each cup-shaped bloom. The best time to harvest the stigmas is mid-morning on a sunny day when the flowers have fully opened and are still fresh. The stigmas on this flower are ready.
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- The leaves of the saffron will persist for eight to 12 weeks, then wither and vanish, leaving no trace of the corms below until the flowers appear again next fall.
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- For several days, as the flowers develop, Hannah and my housekeepers harvest the delicate blooms. Here, Enma uses her fingers to carefully pull the flower.
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- She places the flower including the threads on a tray.
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- Here are the flowers from one harvest. Enma brings this batch to my Winter House kitchen.
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- Here’s a closer look. One can see the bright red threads. They are placed on a paper lined baking sheet to dry.
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- Hannah also planted and harvested white flowered saffron, which is also aromatic. Saffron flowers have a somewhat sweet honey-like fragrance – Hannah’s mot favorite scent.
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- Here, Enma removes the three threads by carefully pulling them from the center of the bloom. Enma uses her fingers, but one can also use tweezers.
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- Enma places all the threads on a separate tray to dry in a warm, dark place for a few days. Saffron threads can take at least 24-hours to dry at room temperature, but the time depends on the temperature and humidity. It takes hundreds of flowers to produce a commercially useful amount, and lots of labor, which explains why saffron has long been the world’s most costly spice by weight.
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- Enma creates two piles – one with the flowers ready to pluck and the other, the pile of already plucked blossoms which can be saved for a variety of other uses.
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- Hannah is also participating in the Plant the Moon Challenge project, a global science experiment that challenges young students to grow crops in conditions similar to the moon. The project is lead by Plant the Moon, Competition Sciences and NASA. Here is a kit Hannah set up in my greenhouse.
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- The leaves of the saffron will persist for eight to 12 weeks, then wither and vanish, leaving no trace of the corms below until the flowers appear again next fall.
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- After five weeks, they’re doing great – we’ll see it goes. Hannah is also working with Plant the Moon to get more schools involved – it’s a wonderful way to teach children about space farming and the future of our food systems.
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- Hannah places the harvested dried saffron in a pretty tin with a few blooms. I can’t wait to use my saffron. Please go to Hannah’s Instagram page @hannahcmilman to see more wonderful photos, Reels, and Stories about saffron. Hannah shows you other places she’s planted saffron and all the different uses for the flower and the spice. Thanks Hannah – for being so passionate about saffron and for teaching all us so much.
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