Saffron

Saffron has been used in herbal medicine for many centuries and is considered a warming and stimulating herb. It is also starting to be explored in western medicine.

We recommend our Saffron Extract for wellness, as a consistent amount can be taken each day, and doses can be increased and decreased easily.

Significant research and evidence exist on the benefits of saffron on eye health, specifically macular degeneration.

Saffron is known to have soporific effects, i.e. it helps you go to sleep, and I can attest our bees always conk out in the patch.

It is believed that it has positive effects on mood stabilisation, but maybe that is because it makes everything

A few weeks ago I had the chance to sit down and talk to Angie Asimus for the National Farmers Federation podcast. Their aim is to share stories from the farm and connect consumers to the humans behind the produce they buy, which is especially important with lettuces at $13 each and the other pressures we're all facing.

Just to set the seen, the day was rainy and drab, threatening snow...again, so we were in town in the commerical kitchen packing out olives. I, of course, failed to turn the power switch on for my laptop charger, so between lack of internet and lack of power, the interview was a little hap hazard, but I don't think you can tell.

Angie asks some great questions about

Many of you who have been growing your saffron for several years now are asking, 'When should I lift?'. Well it depends, and here are the reasons.

While saffron might not be on your regular shopping list, it’s one of the most versatile spices and can be used in almost any dish you create. Discover the many ways you can use saffron in your culinary delights. 

What is crocus sativus

Saffron is an autumn flowering crocus. It dies down during summer, and then in March, when the nights start getting cold, up will pop the first green tips. Flowers will generally follow about 3-4 weeks later, however this is very dependent on weather and corm size. The saffron ‘grass’ (what we call the leaves) will then grow all winter and die down in early spring.

Saffron reproduces by replication, i.e. the corms divide and create daughter corms, which means every 3 years you should lift your corms and divide them up, this ensures they have room to grow and reduces the risk of disease. Each corm generally produces one flower per season.

How to grow saffron

You can plant them in the ground or in a large deep pot. Regardless of which option you choose, good draining is critical to being successful. Plant your corms approximately 10cm deep and at least 10cm apart, don’t water them in, any time from late December through till early

It's that time of the year, where we start eating too much, drinking too much and panicking about how we're not going to get everything done before the end of the year.
Australian's summers, and Christmas specifically, are intimately linked with seafood, I think its the hot evenings and the cool freshness of the food styles often created using fish and crustaceans, which makes summer and fish just work. What's interesting though is most seafood isn't at it's best during Christmas in Australia, we really should be eating our oysters in August, but let's be honest, if you're from Melbourne, there is nothing to celebrate in August, it's cold, windy and grey. So it's fantastic that our 500 odd oyster farmers scattered around the south east coast of Australia know how to manage the little creatures to ensure we have excellent oysters come 25th December.

Considering the time pressures everyone is under at this time of year and the need for quick impressive recipes, I thought

What a lovely surprise to wake up to this morning. Our Egyptian Dukkha has been awarded a Gold medal in the Australian Food Awards Pantry section. We've been producing our Egyptian Dukkha for 2 years, using only the best ingredient we can get our hands on, including beautiful High Country walnuts, so it was lovely to receive the highest score for our ingredient quality and combination. The judges commented 'Very good balance, particularly salt and pepper levels. Walnut twist is very nice.'

We also submitted our Wild Fermented Olives, both Saffron and Lemon Myrtle and our Summertime blends and happily walked away with Bronze medals for both, with judges noting 'Very subtle condiments in crisp green olives.'
We sourced these Manzanillo olives from an Angus breeder in Mudgegonga who planted them for diversification, but when the 2009 fires came through his property, he decided to focus his rebuild efforts elsewhere, so it is fantastic