Saffron is almost exclusively grown in Iran, Spain, India and Afghanistan.
So why are fields of it blossoming on this Vermont farm just before the snow falls?
This ephemeral bit of botany is saffron, the most expensive spice in the world.
OLIVER PARINI
The harvest from the fall-blooming saffron crocus will last until the temperature stays below freezing.
He didn’t intend to stay.
“Saffron was how I finally persuaded Zaka to farm with me,” says Mandl-Abramson.
Jacob Fox
“Saffron was difficult and experimental, and we had the chance to be leaders.
Hardly anyone was doing it.”
Pound-for-pound on par with gold, high-end saffron sells for as much as $50 a gram.
OLIVER PARINI
On the flip side, nearly every step of growing and processing saffron must be done by hand.
Around 90% of the world’s saffron is grown in Iran.
Spain, Afghanistan and India are also exporters.
Jacob Fox
“Saffron is endangered,” he says.
He predicts that in the next 10 years Iran’s saffron harvestsome 200 tons will drop by half.
She became a leading resource on growing the spice in the U.S. mostly by accident.
Via her University of Vermont program, Margaret Skinner, a research professor and extension entomologist, supports American saffron farmers.OLIVER PARINI
“My initial reaction was, ‘That’s a really crazy idea,'” says Skinner.
“I didn’t think it would survive the cold.”
“We envisioned this as a crop to support our small diversified farms,” she explains.
OLIVER PARINI
The outlay of time and money to plant an acre of saffron can be daunting.
Saffron held promise of something more lucrative on a small scale.
They bought their first crocus corms even before they bought land.
Jacob Fox
To harvest their half-acre requires 14 people working up to 14 hours a day.
After drying, the saffron is sealed in jars.
Price admits that at least half her customers are unfamiliar with saffron.
OLIVER PARINI
“They point to the lavender field and ask if that’s the saffron,” she says.
Her mission is to spread enthusiasm.
She encourages people to “be adventuresome, to try it in everything.”
Jacob Fox
“Three threads of saffron will make a pot of rice,” she says.
Saffron kept coming to the top of the list.
As remote as it is, Meraki Meadows gets few visitors.
They sell directly from their website.
“Our biggest gap is marketing,” McDonald says.
For Calabash Gardens in Vermont, that partner isLemonfair Saffron, a company started in 2017 by Parker Shorey.
Shorey recently checked in on Zaka Chery’s crop at Calabash Gardens.
“The gauntlet was thrown,” Shorey says.
The farming piece still leaves him nervous.
“We’re going to be picking half a million flowers,” he says.
“We won’t eat or sleep.
Here are some things to consider.
Read
You may see a quality grade on labels.
Others are based on measures of active ingredients, primarily crocin, which gives the saffron coloring power.
Ideally, you’ll find a harvest date within the last year on the package.
Buy it in small amounts to avoid leftovers sitting around losing potency.
Inspect
It should look like red threads, typically snarled into a jumble.
Sniff
It should smell strongly of dried hay and fall leaves.
Buy
Try these sites for American-grown saffron.
