The Saffron Group
“THE UNIVERSE BOWS BEFORE THE POWER OF SAFFRON. IN THE MORNINGS, EVENINGS, SUN WEARS SAFFRON. SAFFRON SUN BURNS ITSELF TO BRIGHTENS LIVES OF ALL LIVING BEINGS, ENLIGHTENS US & OUR SOULS, NEUTRALISES DARKNESS WITH ITS PRESENCE.SAFFRON REPRESENTS VALOUR, SACRIFICE, SACREDNESS”
SACHIN RAMDAS BHARATIYA
Crocus sativus-Saffron
They are some of my favorite flowers in the world. The fall blooms of the Saffron group of the genus Crocus. The fragrant stigma’s are the spice of myth, legends, and fortunes made and lost. I was doing my part for science this week, collecting a few of those fine filaments of precious spice to send to some university researchers looking to do chemical analysis. I thought I might as well share a few of the species that are blooming now.
I spent a lot of my childhood in Europe and my folks still work over the pond, one of my favorite all time dishes is Spanish Paella. It’s a dish that shows off the the finest of the saffron spice, a wonderful dish for a chilly fall day, but equally suited to the sunshine of summer. Click here for a wonderful recipe to make this weekend: Paella Recipe
The new alpine house construction is coming along nicely! A few dry days made for some great progress.
The construction continues, the cooler weather of fall has been great for getting some major work done on the nursery. The Alpine house being built was originally from the famed Squirrel Heights Gardens in Woodstock Portland. Dave Peterson and Betty Berdan used to run a fabulous fern nursery in the neighborhood and I had the wonderful experience of working with them for some years. When they downsized they let me recycle the fern house that they couldn’t take to their new place. I have been meaning to reconstruct this house for a long time and it’s finally happening. I found some beautiful, clear Cedar to use for the framing and it seemed fitting for the storied little greenhouse.
Cool and cloudy with rain showers now after a beautiful fall day in the 60’s yesterday.
Cheers,
Mark