Emilia Strand planted 20,000 saffron crocus corms on her 42-acre farm southeast of Olympia in August. Strand says the operation is the first of its kind on the west side of Washington.

Strand, 32, owns Aurum Hill, a farm at 5127 103rd Ave. SE. She told The Olympian during a farm tour on Friday, Aug. 28, that she expects her first harvest by the end of October.

The farm's name comes from the Latin word for gold. Saffron is often called "red gold" for its price: Strand said 75,000 flowers are needed to produce a single pound, which can sell for $5,000 to $10,000 depending on quality.

Strand said she previously worked as a bill-drafting attorney in the Code Advisor's Office in the Capitol building. She and her husband bought the property in 2021.

Her husband is a wildland firefighter and deputy with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office whose summer schedule left him unavailable during warm-weather growing seasons. Saffron harvests in the fall.

The operation starts with four 96-foot garden beds inside a greenhouse.

Each corm should produce one to five flowers, Strand said. Harvesting is done by hand: she plans to pick each bloom early in the morning, then pluck the three red threads from its center and dry them.

"Honestly, this is like a massive experiment," Strand said.

She paid just under $5,000 for her corms from a Netherlands-based supplier. Strand said she knows of one saffron operation in Oregon and one in central Washington but none on the western side of the state.

If the first season goes well, Strand aims to expand to five or six more greenhouses. She said she hopes to supply Olympia-area restaurants and sell at local farmers markets. She would also consider selling corms so residents can grow their own, noting the flowers thrive in poor soil with little water.

The corms multiply on their own, so she would not need to buy more.