Download PDF - St. Catherine's College - University of Oxford

Sally Francis (1990, Biology) on her passion for, and work with, saffron
My passion is plants, especially those of
current or historical economic importance.
After a first degree in Botany, I stayed on at
the Department of Plant Sciences in Oxford for
my DPhil in barley powdery mildew disease. I
worked in agricultural research for some years,
then took the decision to become a selfemployed
writer and consultant specialising in
crops. My first major undertaking was writing,
illustrating and publishing British Field Crops, a
book which has become the standard text on
the subject. I am involved in many interesting
freelance projects, including scoping studies
on ‘alternative crops’ for cultivation in the UK.
More recently I have added a new venture. I will
hazard a guess that this particular profession
is unique amongst Catz alumni: I am a saffron
grower.
My saffron enterprise began because of a
birthday present of just twenty plants back
in 1997. After many years of growing a
little saffron in the garden at my parents’
smallholding in North Norfolk, I
discovered by chance that a
completely forgotten, but highly
important, saffron-growing
industry had once operated in
nearby villages. Saffron from
Norfolk was held in high esteem
both in Britain and overseas.
Valuable consignments of the spice were
regularly exported from Norfolk ports like Wellsnext-the-Sea
(where I had gone to school) to
the Low Countries in the early seventeenth
century, though a paucity of surviving customs
records means we only have the merest
glimpse into this intriguing trade.
In 2009 I started transforming my hobbygrowing
into commercial production. It required
all my botanical and farming expertise to
develop agronomy techniques that would allow
the plant to be grown in field conditions, rather
than a very sheltered garden, and to produce
an economically viable amount of saffron per
woman-hour invested. There were masses
of technical challenges to overcome, but my
first small field-grown harvest was gathered
in 2010. The following year I applied for Rural
Development Programme funding to help
buy more stock, design and make bespoke
machinery, as well as produce Saffron: the
Story of England’s Red Gold. Researching
this book revealed the specialist vocabulary
used by the crokers (saffron growers)
from the Tudor period until saffron’s
abandonment in England in the 1820s.
Saffron is not an easy crop to grow and
the associated work is very exacting and
painstaking, which I love! Unlike most
other crops, saffron has defied mechanisation
and is still grown in a similar way to when it
was first domesticated in Bronze Age Crete.
It is exceptionally labour-intensive and huge
amounts of work are needed to grow even a
tiny area, so I do not operate on the same scale
as other farmers. Harvesting is only possible by
hand. Between 150 and 200 flowers are needed
to yield just one gram of dried product, which is
why saffron comes at a price.
My focus for my business, Norfolk Saffron,
has been on quality and sustainability. After
much research, I developed a harvesting and
drying method which produces rich, dark red
saffron threads that are as strong and potent
as possible. I only sell saffron from the most
recent harvest, never older stock, which means
the saffron’s superb flavour can be enjoyed to
the full. In recognition of this, last year we won
a Gold Great Taste Award. My work is always
interesting and varied, ranging from R&D
experiments to driving the tractor. I enjoy the
seasonal nature of saffron growing, meeting
people as passionate about saffron as me, and
above all I love the harvest. It’s just so very
satisfying to grow something useful.
For more information, and for online sales,
please visit: www.norfolksaffron.com and
www.britishfieldcrops.co.uk n
ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 2012/45