Today is the official Beginning of the Dye Season

The dye season starts today with the first pot of blossoms simmering on the stove. I picked the blossoms last night after work. After hacking the forsythia plant nearly to death (I was trying to get rid of it because it hadn't bloomed in years) the darn thing returned this season with a vengence. It is absolutely weighed down with millions of huge deep yellow blossoms. I picked a packed plastic grocery sack of the blooms and set them in a pot of cold water. I brought it to a lightly bubbling simmer for about 45min, and then turned off the stove. I'll let it sit till the weekend then see what I can get with some fiber I'll have already mordanted with alum and COT.

The plower will be here this evening to set the garden bed and to dig out a new hillside garden that I'll be using to plant with Black eyed susans and some other flowers that won't compete or cross breed with them. Apparently thats where I went wrong with the great putty fiasco of last season. I was mixing the BES with a flower that looks similar (unknowingly).

I won't be able to actually lay seed for a couple of weeks yet. (Still to cold for any newly germinating plants) but I'll have the chance to lay my beds, figure out companion plants and make sure any newly emerging weeds are removed to the compost pile.

I'll add to this post a bit later with pictures after the plows arrive.

Leah