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Millionaire in the making!

How does your garden grow?
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CelticRambler
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Location: Central France

Millionaire in the making!

#1

Post by CelticRambler »

Here we go - the beginnings of my retirement fortune:

Image

Ready for harvest, three high quality, organic saffron strands, worth about 10,000€/kg. 8-)

Only 999.993g until I have that first kilo to sell! :lol:
765489

Re: Millionaire in the making!

#2

Post by 765489 »

Looks like a crocus. Bulbs or plants ?
765489

Re: Millionaire in the making!

#3

Post by 765489 »

Another question CR, could you grow that in Ireland ? Frosts / wet weather adversely affect it ?
CelticRambler
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#4

Post by CelticRambler »

Indeed it is - saffron crocus. Bought as bulbs, ordered in July, planted in August. They flower in October and November (possibly into December in years of erratic weather). I haven't yet counted the number of individual plants that have sprouted, but it looks like it's around 80%-ish of the 120 that I planted. Some of them were probably lost/damaged by moles digging in the bed, little feckers, but as I'm not actually growing them as a revenue stream, I can cope with that.

From what I've read, they multiply like crazy anyway - which is why the bulbs are so easy and cheap to buy - and I'm counting on them filling that bed over the coming years. They're a near-zero maintenance crop too, so I've been sowing lamb's lettuce (corn salad) over the top of them and will allow that to self-seed ... if whatever's recently been eating the tops off the bouquets leaves them alone.
Ncdjd2 wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:49 am Another question CR, could you grow that in Ireland ? Frosts / wet weather adversely affect it ?
Wet yes, frost no. I have them in a raised bed built specifically for the purpose. As it happens, I'd say it's nearly too dry at the moment (lack of rain and too much "great drying weather" wind, if the rest of the garden is anything to go by).
765489

Re: Millionaire in the making!

#5

Post by 765489 »

Interesting that the flower at the other end of the year compared to normal crocuses.

Nice flower on it, will look good when your bed of them get going.

Good success rate too re planting. You must have a good bulb supplier as smaller bulbs like snow drops and crocuses can be hit and miss here. Bulbs dry out in the shops.
CelticRambler
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#6

Post by CelticRambler »

I got them from this site based in eastern France, but as much by random selection as for any other reason. I'd identified a Dutch supplier that was selling the calibre and quantity I wanted at a cheaper price, but kept this site in my bookmarks. They dropped their price back in the spring for August deliveries, making them a shade cheaper, and as they're certified organic (in France) that was the deciding factor.

Like all bulbs, the calibre of what you plant has a significant effect on what you get. I opted for the 10/11 size as the best compromise between getting a "quick fix" this year and a sensible price. I paid a few cents short of 44€ for a pack of 100, but there were 120 bulbs in the pack that turned up.

The growing is easy - it's the harvest that adds the cost, as each strand has to be picked out by hand ... and not get lost when you sneeze! :lol:

There's a saffron farm about 20km from here. So far as I can tell, they make their profit from the "added value" of adding their local, organic saffron to otherwise ordinary foodstuffs (frequently local artisanal products too) rather than just selling the spice in its raw form (though they do that too, and sell the bulbs as well).
kadman
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#7

Post by kadman »

CelticRambler wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:21 am Here we go - the beginnings of my retirement fortune:

Image

Ready for harvest, three high quality, organic saffron strands, worth about 10,000€/kg. 8-)

Only 999.993g until I have that first kilo to sell! :lol:

A litre of roundup will soon shift that for ya. :mrgreen:
490808
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#8

Post by 490808 »

Keep your gun handy. Once they know about them I suspect any local pheasants (no not peasants) will eat the buds before the flowers open. They have certainly denuded some of my displays of spring flowering crocus in the past.
CelticRambler
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#9

Post by CelticRambler »

Fortunately (? :? ) the gun-toting peasants keep the pheasants in check, but I might have to put some kind of protection over the bed anyway to preserve my supply of winter salad.
490808
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#10

Post by 490808 »

A new meaning for the term "Bait And Switch".

I'd forgotten how much wildfowl go for anything fresh and tasty over the winter.
490808
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#11

Post by 490808 »

If anyone else wants to plant some I just got an email from Peter Nyssens and check their catalog

https://www.peternyssen.com/autumn-flow ... ffron.html

Bulbs are sent from Holland (in my experience) and I've had no problems with delivery (or extra charges) to Ireland.
CelticRambler
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#12

Post by CelticRambler »

The Continental Op wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:16 pm If anyone else wants to plant some I just got an email from Peter Nyssens and check their catalog

https://www.peternyssen.com/autumn-flow ... ffron.html

Bulbs are sent from Holland (in my experience) and I've had no problems with delivery (or extra charges) to Ireland.
Oof - they're dear, though. 26€80 delivered from my supplier, 39€55 for those lads! :shock:

Watch the bulb calibre too - 8cm ("+") is quite small, with only a 60% likelihood of getting even one flower per plant in the first year (compared to the theoretical 100% of getting 2 to 4 flowers per plant for the 10/11 size that I ordered.

I did a quick count this morning: 98 plants growing for 100 ordered (120 received/planted). Four flowers today - up to an estimated 90mg now! 8-)
CelticRambler
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Re: Millionaire in the making!

#13

Post by CelticRambler »

Quick follow-up: after that first flower, the rest came (and continue to come) quick and fast. I've so far collected just short of 100 blooms, hitting a peak of about 25 in a single day. They are a very fragile flower, though - the wind and the rain will destroy them in no time at all, so when I'm not distracted with other jobs, I've been trying to remember to pick whatever's available twice a day, and even if the blooms are not fully open.

I planted them quite deep (recommended for maximum yield) and it does look like I'm getting two and three flowers for most of the bulbs. That said, I had three bulbs left over, which ended up in a cardboard box and never got planted. They all have roots now, and one of them's even flowering - so I think it's fair to say that they're not particularly fussy about growing conditions! :lol:
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