Hi adamus

I got mine from vogelvry, here in Tas.

Helen

Here is a link that might be useful: vogelvry

wow thanx. I thought they were impossible. Good site, thanx again.

Adam, you may be a bit late for saffron bulbs. Normally they get shipped out in autumn. But don't quote me on that.

Hi Adam, and WELCOME BACK! I got my saffron bulbs from the same place that Helen mentioned, they ship to the mainland and I found them to be reliable. Spatz is right you will have missed out for this year, they ship them in very early Autumn, I don't actually remember when I ordered mine but it was sometime in summer I think. Mine have yet to flower, but they all look healthy enough, considering I've never grown any kind of bulb before!

all the best, mudlark

Tonight they showed a segment on Better Homes & Gardens about safron. It costs $35,000 a kilo! If you can grow crocus you might be onto something. They too said that Tasmania produces it so we don't need to import it from Iran or India.

Hey everyone,

Saffron crocus is a temperate plant, which may or may not grow well as far north as Sydney. If you can grow other crocuses and bulbs I guess you'd be OK.

The main cost in producing saffron is labour, as the flowers are picked by hand and the saffron picked out of each. It takes many thousands of flowers to make one kilo of saffron. The reason Tasmanian saffron (which is no better than the imported stuff) is not competitive is the labour cost. Places like Iran, India and Spain, where labour is cheap, produce lots of very good saffron. You can get a box of 3g of Spanish or Iranian saffron for less than you have to pay for about 4 Tasmanian saffron strands. Literally. You'd pay over $100 for enough Tasmanian saffron to flavour a decent paella!

So if you think people will buy your saffron at approximately 1000x the cost of the imported stuff, when the quality is arguably little better, go for it! People have been convinced of stranger things (Iraq & WMD) by good advertising...:)

Cheers

Manuel

Hey, I got 2 little pots of Saffron at a market on the weekend!

One day I might be able to put one strand of saffron into my rice. I am not thinking of selling my strand or two of saffron that I might be able to harvest one day. :)

You can also get bulbs here:
http://www.boobookhill.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: Boobook Hill Saffron