The harvest of saffron

Harvesting saffron, which takes place throughout the day, is based on the harvesting of the flower, the plant's harvestable part, hosted on the stigmas, which becomes saffron once separated and cooked.

The first flowers appear in October spanning a period of 15-29 days.

This work must be carried out manually due to very specific handling requirements along with other reasons.
This must take place every day. This begins once the flower pushes the bulb up through the stem emerging on the surface with the first hours of the day.
It appears closed in the form of a bud so that it grows and opens through the introduction of sunlight, thus it is best to harvest the flower daily and first thing in the morning to avoid it withering.
The cut flowers are placed in straw or wicker baskets to avoid them being crushed. After being transported in large baskets to the place where separation will take place, there should be no crushing or heating of the flowers, so they should not be stacked.
Once separated, the flowers are laid out in thin layers on bags, tarps or firm ground to air.
This should be done on the same day the flower is harvested otherwise they wither and lose their properties and thus require more work.
Separation is the operation by which the flower's stigmas are separated from the style supporting them.