From citrus and tea plants to vegetables, herbs and coffee, the variety of crops growing in the geothermally temperature-controlled greenhouse at Coastal Grove Farms in Upper Port LaTour is impressive.
The greenhouse is just one aspect of Coastal Grove Farm, owned by Matthew Roy and Cynthia Bazinet. It is also the first commercial saffron farm in Nova Scotia.
The couple harvested their first saffron crop last fall.
“We had a good crop,” said Roy in an interview. “We attended a virtual conference of saffron growers in North America and found out we did better than most growers in North America for our first harvest. We had 100 percent production where the range was between one and 60 percent production. We were really pleased when we heard that.”
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice with a retail price of up to $5,000 a pound. Saffron comes from the flower stamen. It is commonly used as a culinary flavouring and colouring agent in Asian and European cuisine but also is reported to have medicinal properties. Unlike most crocus bulbs, saffron blooms in the fall. The stamen and petals of the plant are also marketable.