He has been growing the world's most expensive spice for the last 18 years at Claude Road.

"I'm no agronomist, but I know it's a damn good spot, and that my little plants are very happy," he said.

Last year Mr Brown was the country's second-largest producer of the spice.

"So many people are producing 100 to 200 grams if they are lucky, whereas I have been producing over a kilogram, some years around 1.2kg to 1.3kg."

Each year's harvest lasts about six weeks. Mr Brown said there was almost exactly 42 days of harvest every year.

"The first flowers you see each year, oh gosh, you just want to get down and kiss them."

There were various reasons behind Mr Brown's move into saffron almost two decades ago; he said the lack of competition was the main reason.

"I looked into growing grapes, olives, walnuts and truffles. This was before spreadsheets, so I got a piece of paper and put them all down and did as much research as I could and just keep coming back to saffron.

"The cost of getting into it would have put a lot of people off. I often wonder why people with smaller properties don't just do it, but then there's a lot to do with the soil, it's got to be North facing and get all day sun or as much as you can get in the autumn time."

"For me, I thought it was a goer. I'm pleased with my decision. It has been good for me."

He said prices peaked at $36,000 per kilogram a few years ago and have worked there way down to around $25,000 per kg.

It takes around 250,000 Saffron Crocus flowers to harvest one kilogram of saffron.

"I handpick the flowers into a bucket and take them inside where the flowers are stripped, and stigmas are hand-picked and left to dry on a tray."

The harvest is delicate work and can be laborious, but Mr Brown said he still enjoys doing it and will continue to do so but just on a smaller scale.