It’s a time consuming affair to dry, measure, weight saf
fron on the apothecaries’ scales, and keep records of the
harvest, but Evelyn said that she thrives on tedious, detail
ed work.
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
While frost has numbed the
brilliant show of autumn flowers
across the county, a surprising
phenomenon is taldng place at the
farm of Wade and Evelyn Groff.
Every sunny fall day purple
crocus-like flowers pop open
along the meadow where the Hols
teins graze.
These are no ordinary flowers.
They’re saffron, which contains
the costliest spice on the market
The purple flowers cradle the
reddish-orange stems or stigmas
that are dried and used to season
and color foods.
To see the hundreds of dainty
purple flowers, which Evelyn
gainqt£ daily, one might derive
that saffron is plentiful. But the
bounty is deceiving, for it takes
70,000 flowers to produce one
pound of saffron. If sold commer
cially, saffron rivals ounce for
ounce the price of gold.
A few, who are as industrious as
Evelyn, grow their own saffron to
avoid paying the costly prices. But
not everyone is willing to pay the
price of an aching back and the
tedious hours required to extract
the saffron.
“Gardening is my thing,” Eve
lyn said. “Nothing I like better than
to grow than fresh vegetables.”
The time-consuming business
of plucking the flowers from the
plants, sorting them into piles of
10, pulling the flower apart to
remove the stigmas, drying the
stigmas, weighing and packaging
the saffron is pure pleasure for
Evelyn.
“It’s definitely a hobby but last
year, 1 almost got tired of it
because the biggest picking took
me eight hours in one day," Evelyn
said.
The flowers deteriorate rapidly
if not picked each day. Ants and
aphids get after the flowers, but
Evelyn doesn’t spray the flowers.
The appearance of the purple
flowers is like a mystery. Accord
ing to Evelyn, the plants lie dor
mant during the summer months
until the end of September or
beginning of October, when the
foliage suddenly appears. Three to
four weeks later the purple cro
cuses bloom over a period of three
weeks. The foliage stays green all
winter. The foliage is about three
inches in height now and by the
end of winter wjll be 12- to 14-in
Farm Wife Harvests Saffron:
World’s Most Expensive Spice
ches tall. During May and June the
bulbs are completely dormant,
with no signs that they are planted
in the ground. But the work in the
saffron patch continues as Evelyn
must keep the area clean and free
of weeds.
It’s always a complete surprise
for Evelyn tosee how many plants
will bloom. Each plant produces
from one to three flowers.
“I have no idea how many will
bloom until the day they bloom,”
Evelyn said.
This year, so far, the saffron
flowers did not produce as large a
harvest as last year. Evelyn sus
pects the rainy cool weather hin
dered the growth.
Last year’s drought produced a
bonanza crop and enabled Evelyn
to give away and sell saffron. Id
addition, the bulbs multiplied
profusely.
The saffron bulbs must be dug
up and replanted every three to
four years. The transplanting takes
place during July and August. One
bulb may multiply as many as 10 to
30 bulbs in a three to four year pe
riod. Evelyn replants the bulbs six
inches apart. She gives away and
sells many of the bulbs, which vary
in price depending upon the size of
the bulbs.
“It’s a big job, and I don’t make
money at it,” Evelyn said.
She finds pleasure in working
with the plants and keeps extensive
written records of where and when
the bulbs are planted, how each is •>
fertilized, and how much and when
each plant produces.
Her record harvest was 2,023
flowers gathered in one day.
The stigmas are dried in the
microwave. Evelyn places 50 of
the stigmas in a custard cup lined
with a paper towel. The micro
wave is set for two minutes. If they
are not dry and wiry within that
period, she sets the microwave for
one minute longer.
The saffron is weighed and sold
by grains. It takes about 17 grains
to a gram. If stored in a dry, air
tight container, the spice retains its
flavor for many years.
While many believe saffron to
be primarily a Pennsylvania Dutch
spice, history proves otherwise.
“It’s an old spice used in
Egypt,” Evelyn said. “According
to the Bible, King Solomon used
saffron.”
When Evelyn first considered
growing the spice, she did not
know if the weather and growing
season of the county were compat
ible with the spice.
“But I looked on the map and
saw that we live in the same lati
tude as southern Spain, where
much of the saffron is grown,”
Evelyn said. _
About 15 years ago, Evelyn
ordered some saffron bulbs from a
seed catalogue, but the bulbs did
not grow. The following year, she
heard of a countian selling the
bulbs so she purchased 80. The
first year, only one flower
bloomed, which is typical for
small bulbs.
“I read everything I could find
about growing saffron,” Evelyn
said. “Saffron likes loose soil,
bone meal fertilizer, and dry
weather.”
Evelyn also grows hundreds of
gladiolus. Many of them are given
to shut-ins whom she and husband
visit as a ministry. The remainder
are sold from their home at 644
Beaver Valley Pike, Lancaster, PA
17602.
Saffron is used to flavor many
foods. To season noodles, rice,
potpie, chicken com soup, sweet
potatoes, roast chicken, filling,
potatoes and most other dishes,
less than V 4 teaspoon is required.
“If the flavor is too strong, most
people don’t like it,” Evelyn said.
Many of the recipes that Evelyn
uses are in her head, but here is one
that she believes readers will enjoy
making.
Curious Holstelns watch as Evelyn Groff daily picks the purple saffron flowers from
which she extracts the reddish-orange stigmas to dry for saffron.
homestead
*
1 "
OOOOOOOOG
000000000
- #•> r* o O O
After Evelyn gathers the
flowers, she separates them
Into piles of 10 for easy cal
culation. She has collected
as many as 2,023 blooms in
one day.
YELLOW RICE
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
Vi teaspoon salt
Small onion
1 bay leaf
Vi teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch saffron
Vi green pepper
IVi cups bite-size chicken.
Fry onion and garlic in oil until
lightly browned. Add chicken
broth. Bring to boil. Add remain
ing ingredients except chicken.
Stir well. Boil one minute. Cover
tightly and reduce heat to low for
20 minutes. Top with chicken.
c K/Sies
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7, 1992-B5
The flower of the saffron
plant is similar to a crocus.
Consumption of nee in the
U.S. has doubled in the last
decade. Americans now consume
almost 20 pounds per person per
year.
Over 80% of the nation’s
restaurants offer rice on their
menu and 72% of them make it
available to their patrons every
day.
Rice is the single most impor
tant food in the world and is a
m3jor staple in the world’s cui
sines... rice is grown on all conti
nents except Antarctica.