Becca/Ace // 29 // She/They

‘stares into distance, takes a long drag off of what is, if you look closely, in fact a candy cigarette’

what if I told you…that saffron…is actually not that hard to grow at home for your own use. 

Oh look a place you can buy the bulbs. 

If you live in a climate colder than zone 6…as I do…plant them in containers and move the containers into a basement or garage during the winter. 

Seriously, here’s a saffron farm in the desert of Afghanistan, and the saffron is happy as shit there. 

Zone 6 means that the minimum expected temperature will not get below -10F. 

Here is a gardening zone map of the USA. 

I’m in zone 5, supposedly, right on the tip of Iowa’s nose where it bumps out into Illinois, but more realistically given our not-uncommon cold snaps here we’re about a zone 4. 

Second: I can’t speak to most of the US but if you’re on the CO front range and put Saffron in the ground, you’re going to have Saffron forever.  It’s literally coming up out of my parent’s lawn and has completely overrun a neighbor’s garden.  This is the opposite of a problem.

Third: Bees love it.  Honeybees, bumblebees, little bees and big bees.  Late-season butterflies and moths love it too.  support your local pollinators.

another comic for class! we were given a list of paintings and told to pick one to use in a story. i used 6 paintings here, and these are all the artists in order of their works’ appearances:

8 vegetables that you can regrow again and again.

Scallions

You can regrow scallions by leaving an inch attached to the roots and place them in a small glass with a little water in a well-lit room.

Garlic

When garlic begins to sprout, you can put them in a glass with a little water and grow garlic sprouts. The sprouts have a mild flavor than garlic and can be added to salads, pasta and other dishes.

Bok Choy

Bok choy can be regrown by placing the root end in water in a well-lit area. In 1-2 weeks , you can transplant it to a pot with soil and grow a full new head.

Carrots

Put carrot tops in a dish with a little water. Set the dish in a well-lit room or a window sill.  You’ll have carrot tops to use in salads. 

Basil

Put clippings from basil with 3 to 4-inch stems in a glass of water and place it in direct sunlight. When the roots are about 2 inches long, plant them in pots to and in time it will grow a full basil plant.

Celery

Cut off the base of the celery and place it in a saucer or shallow bowl of warm water in the sun. Leaves will begin to thicken and grow in the middle of the base, then transfer the celery to soil. 

Romaine Lettuce

Put romaine lettuce stumps in a ½ inch of water. Re-water to keep water level at ½ inch. After a few days, roots and new leaves will appear and you can transplant it into soil.

Cilantro

The Dark Hedges, UK (by Danielle Nelson)