Since 2005 we have a plantation of saffron in the Chintre, this plantation has been certified Organic Agriculture since 2009.

We are members of CIVAM AgroBio 47, de association of the Organic farmers of the Lot-et-Garonne Department.

Cultivation

Since Antiquity we have appreciated saffron for its gastronomic qualities, but also as dying product.

In August, Thierry and some guests had planted 15,000 bulbs on a 15 cm depth.

Saffron is a magical plant: in October we could already harvest hundreds flowers! But sometimes it can happen that, for yet unknown reasons, the flowering is weak or non-existent.

We absolutely have to harvest the bloomed flowers every day and to pinch the top of the flower’s pistil every day in order to get the three stigmas.

You have to know that 150 pistils bring about 1g saffron, which represents 1 hour of handwork. Then we have to be patient 6 more months; this time is needed for the refining of saffron.

The first year we harvested 70g “red gold”.

Since then, we could enrich our guest table with some original dishes: rabbit with saffron, risotto, crème brûlée flavoured with saffron, rice saffron pudding, brioche, paella, ice cream,…

Considering the success of this innovation, we extended our safranière in 2006 and we planted another 8,000 bulbs.

Since 2009 our saffron cultivation has been certified Organic Agriculture.

The third harvest was three times richer and this will keep rising, what a godsend !

Commercialisation

On the market is 1g saffron sold between 30 and 40 euro. We sell it in 0.1g capsules: this dose is recommended to season a 6 persons dish. The sale conditioning is 3 x 0.1g organic saffron. Moreover, we also use saffron in the preparation of our delicious jams, made with the fruit from our orchard and certified Organic Agriculture.

Open Doors

We suggest that you come each year in October to discover our saffron: we will pluck the flowers every day; then we will peel them (in order to harvest the stigmas) while we chat around the table; finally we will let the daily harvest dry; and in the evening we will enrich some dishes with this unrivalled spice.