I won't bore you with more photos of peppers this week because I didn't take any. But I did get the camera out to snap a couple of shots of some new stuff from the garden.
The first saffron flowers appeared. One of the flowers had been attacked by something and I lost one stigma, I hope that the attacker found saffron to not be tasty and will leave the rest of the blossoms alone. I tried growing saffron once before in pots but had marginal success. So this time I'm devoting space in one of the garden beds to the bulbs. I've given up growing enough veggies that there's plenty of space available now. The bulbs will get to stay put for the next couple of years or more before they need to be lifted and divided. The
20 25 bulbs that I planted are capable of providing enough saffron to season a couple of dishes this year and next year should produce even more. So far each plant that has bloomed has popped up 2 flowers. So do the math, 2 flowers each from
20 25 plants at 3 stigmas per blossom potentially equals
120 150 stigmas. After drying those
120 150 stigmas there won't be enough to register on my scale that weighs in 1 gram increments. Did you know that saffron has been cultivated for over 3500 years and has been selected and bred to the point where it is sterile and can no longer produce sexually and must be propagated by dividing and planting bulbs (technically corms). Think of the countless number of corms that have passed through generations of human hands back to those first cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean. What's really mind boggling is that all of those flowers and stigmas have to be plucked by human hands. Think of that the next time you use a pinch of the precious stuff and don't whine about the price of the most expensive spice in the world.
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| Saffron Crocus Blossoms |
Speedy arugula is back in the harvest basket again. This has become the only variety of arugula that I grow now. It is quick to crop as the name implies and it has a mild flavor that I prefer to spicier varieties and I like the feathery shaped leaves. Speedy rules!
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| Speedy Arugula |
The Castandel beans are still producing. This variety seems to be a generous producer, there's still lots of small beans left on the plants that should size up over the next 2 or 3 weeks.
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| Castandel Beans |
Other than some more generous harvests of peppers (over 90 pounds so far this season) the only other things I harvested this week were some scrawny broccoli shoots.
Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog
Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.
I tried growing saffron once and I think I managed one stamen.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it should have done better that. There is actually a history of saffron growing in England at one time.
DeleteI grew saffron at my old place, but I never got a whole lot of it. The blooms are pretty regardless! I love Speedy arugula too, and it is about time so sow some here for a winter crop. I've had a hard time getting excited about planting anything lately. After a long hot summer I feel burned out - literally!
ReplyDeleteSaffron is something that I think never produces a lot. The blooms certainly are pretty in their own right and I noticed that they are a little fragrant too. Oh yeah, I'm not all that excited about planting lately either. I'm just so tired of the rodent battles that I just don't want to have to deal with it.
DeleteInteresting about saffron. How many would you have to grow to get a usable amount? 90 pounds of peppers is something I dream about.
ReplyDeleteThe growing instructions that came with my bulbs says the stigmas from the flowers of 10-12 bulbs will produce an amount used in most recipes. So my 20 bulbs could produce enough to season a couple of dishes this year. In years 2 and 3 I might expect each bulb to produce 6 to 9 flowers each so production should increase to a decent amount. I read that it takes about 200 flowers to get 1 gram of saffron and that's the amount that I've generally purchased. If my 20 bulbs each produce at least 6 flowers then that would be 120 flowers, maybe more.
DeleteI'm not familiar with Speedy arugula. Sounds like it would be good to try. Something I read suggested it is slower to bolt too. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI love veg, or in this case flowers, like that - where the original was from hundreds of years ago....gives me such a wonderful feeling knowing that I have a piece of history in my garden. And you are so right about Speedy - I LOVE it & don't plan on trying any others for the time being, anyhow.
ReplyDeleteI too love Speedy, and also Astro, which has smooth-edged leaves, also mild tasting and soft. The saffron in my garden took a rest last year, never came up, but is up this year. Apparently it sometimes does that.
ReplyDelete