In the Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday, protagonist Taeko takes a vacation to spend time on the safflower farm operated by her brother-in-law’s extended family–anticipating from 1991 the recent cultural explosion of small-scale farming. The farm is richly detailed both in the ecology and processing of safflower and in the weed community found there (subject of a future post).
The shots of safflower in this film are lovingly detailed even for Studio Ghibli, and I love that they go through the whole process from harvesting the petals to washing and grinding them into dye. You can even note the changing color of the petals as they mature over the course of the movie. The farm is nestled into the valley among forest patches and follows the contours of the land in short strips (not an obstacle to hand harvesting).
(via tranquilfern)
(Source: lindseymorqan, via timetrades)
