Saffron man

True to his Pennsylvania Dutch roots, Dan grows saffron in the fall for local favorites, like Chicken Pot Pie, prepared with saffron the same way his grandmother made it years ago. It's an obsession that occupies his evenings this time of year as he daily harvests the flowers and collects the stigmas to dry them. He records the daily number of picks and maintains that the growth cycle creates a bell-shaped curve (this is the scientist in the man). Today he picked 86 blossoms. Some days the number is over a hundred.

Saffron is one of the world’s most expensive spices since it is hand picked and handled very delicately. It requires over 80,000 individual flowers to produce a full pound of saffron!
You can learn more about saffron at http://www.chefdepot.net/saffronfacts.htm.