Top
image credit: Adobe Stock

Vermont growers see potential in pairing saffron and solar production

As the growing season winds down at most New England farms, it’s only just gearing up at Golden Thread Farm, in Stowe, Vermont.

The plants that fill the farm’s two plastic-covered high tunnels are just beginning to come out of their dormancy. Come October, they will bloom into purple crocuses with thread-like stigmas that will soon after be hand-harvested for sale as saffron.

More commonly associated with Iran and Spain, the cultivation of saffron, an expensive spice prized for its flavor and medicinal properties, is “a side project” for Brian Leven, a lawyer and the farm’s owner. He sells the dried stigmas online for $50 a gram — roughly the yield from 182 flowers — and supplies some local restaurants and stores.

Read More on Renewable Energy World