Where have I BEEN? Oh, yes, busy. But I've missed saffron and KITTENS and Santa Clara (good thing I didn't know, or I couldn't have come down anyway, and that would have been TOO sad).
love to you!
How wonderful! We have a persimmon tree that is currently full of large, deep orange fruit. We have had several inquiries as to the cost of them. We give them away because there are far too many for us and we will never manage to sell them. It is nice to be able to truthfully tell people that they are organic. Who knew that never getting around to doing anything to the tree would be such a good thing?
isn't saffron from the center of something else -- like a lily maybe or an orchid of some sort? it is so yummy... try some on, say, farfalle, with bel paese cheese and butter. you will go mad with pleasure.
i get the cheap stuff at trader joe's.
you can make santa lucia buns!
Is it somehow possible to get on the saffron waiting list? I do dearly love the stuff, and will in exchange make paella and whatever saffron-based goodies are needed...!
Good on you for keeping a garden. I'm a rather ashamed to admit it, but I can't taste that expensive saffron in dishes when I use it.
We have a 10-foot-tall bay laurel in our backyard that grew from a $3 herb plant in a pint container. I've always fantasized about making bay-leaf wreaths to give away at Christmas, but now most of the leaves are a bit bug-eaten and really dirty, and making wreaths is time-consuming. I still think about it, though.
mmmmmmmmm...saffron...yuuuummmmmmyyyyy! Sorry, I had to chime in and give my three rebel yells for saffron.
I understand your pain about Wholefoods, Giant Eagle and Farmer's Markets...we just moved here (Pgh) from Oklahoma City, OK and we had a huge Farmer's Market as well as an Akin's Natural Foods Store and countless 'community' gardens where if you did your time in the garden you got to reap the benefits -- yummy organic produce, herbs and flowers.
I wish you well with your shopping guilt and saffron adventures.
Thanks for reminding me again why I'm paying so much to live in Seattle, where there is no such thing as a Bear's Retreat though we do have lots and lots of the surrounding developments.
Now, that is marvelous. I am a real believer in responsible consumerism, and never shop at Wal-Mart, but I have a great local farmers market, so I know that it is easy for me. However, no one here seems to grow saffron. I am determined to do so, now.
http://www.csacenter.org/index.html Have you tried a CSA subscription? While not year-round, they often have delivery locations that are most convenient. And you can feel less guilty for at least part of the year.
thank you Dr. Brannen-- I thoroughly enjoyed your organic entry!!
we had a wonderful farmers market in hawaii, but no such luck around here... I am so very glad, though, that your plantings have already yielded saffron!
Since moving to Pittsburgh, we've abandoned the fling we began (in Miami) with farmers' markets. The crafts and videos at Giant Eagle's child care center placate Heathen A, and NOTHING short of absolute necessity can justify an hour car ride with Heathen B.
As for the saffron, how cool! I would not attempt it myself since my husband is very Green Eggs and Ham about spices. However, once we have a truly permanent residence, I intend to experiment with growing sassafrass since I could at least make my own file' for gumbo. And perhaps some root beer for Mr. Conventional.
I've grown saffron myself here in Florida. It did pretty well, but make sure it doesn't get too wet. I didn't pull out the bulbs early enough after the greenery died, and they got drowned by a tropical storm.
They are lovely when the flowers open, and didn't need much care at all, as long as they were dry enough. ( Not that easy down here, but they did very nice in pots.)
My mom grew saffron for a couple of years and once surprised Ebbie with a little turned wood vial of it at Christmas. He was thrilled, and I got to reap the benfits come chicken soup time.
Maybe, instead of a turf labyrinth, Sam could build a pig sty. He seems to be familiar with the work involved in butchering. And then you could have pork chops in good conscience.
Say how far north can one grow saffron. I'd always thought of it as a warm climate type plant. Pittsburgh is probably not in the same zone as Vermont, but it certainly isn't Florida either. Do you happen to know how far north one can grow saffron without a greenhouse?
Here we have Farmer's Markets, natural food stores, and even non-plastic stuff in the regular grocery stores, but we don't have any grocery stores with kiddie play areas, video games, and cheap gas. However, unlike Giant Eagle you can find chevre, great cheddar cheese, and plastic scrubbies for your pots (hey plastic works for some stuff - just so long as you don't have to ingest it). I actually had to send my Duquesne student daughter plastic scrubbies because she couldn't find them in the store there.
However, finding saffron around here can be a challenge, even if you're willing to pay the horrible price. So I'd love to think I could grow it myself, maybe next to the basil and thyme.
Liz
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