Hi Folks, I went to a seed swapping party last night. My dear friend Barb is an avid seed collector. You can see her carefully gathering seed pods at the botanical gardens, friends houses and gardens, and just about any place a garden large or small can be grown.
Most recently, she started a gift for me. Natural indigo (not Japanese Indigo), but the bushy kind that is a perennial in some parts of the world. The plants are still tiny, but determined, and I've placed them in windows all around the house to see what they like best.
My plant and seed orders are starting to come in, and despite the forcast for 3 days of snow (starting tomorrow), I'm starting to feel optimistic that spring will actually make an appearance.
The pictures will come soon!
Live well and dye happy.
Leah
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Placing my 2011 seed orders
The time to start sending out the seed orders is upon me. Since this is a new home, I'm not planting a great deal until I go through a spring and see what comes up on its own. Mostly the dyers garden. Speaking of the Dyers garden, I have an extra copy of that particular book if anyone out there is interested, please let me know.
I have indigo (wild), and Japanese (Knotweed) indigo, coriopsis tinctura, BES, QAL, Sulfer Cosmos, and the pots of last year's Madder to go in this spring. No pictures yet. Mostly, I'm spinning wool right now so I have something to dye when the pots are ready. Going to do some orange and black for my daughter ( Princetons colors). Maybe a hat or a scarf. The little one wants a tyedyed effect with blue yellow and green. Milkweed and goldenrod are abundant in this area so the yellows aren't a problem.
I'll grow the indigo, and then overdye for the bright green that she wants.
Still trying for the wonderful BES olive, though I'm starting to think it isn't in the cards for me. I know we have some rhubarb around here somewhere. I'll let a couple go to seed. The dried seeds yield a particularly lovely dark bronze color. Greens from the leaves, berries and bark of the buckthorn (grows like a weed here) which will be a new dyepot for me. I'm very short on yellow and peach for the spinning, so I have to do some jewelweed and coreiopsis tinc. for the peaches.
I'm planting last years Hopi Black Sunflower Seeds, and I'll have to buy the red dye amaranth color. The fresh sunflowers + copper give a lovely lasting dark purple color. I didn't know I needed fresh and dried mine so I ended up with a muddy brownish purple that was a waste of time. I didn't even dye wool with it.
Thats about it for now. Live well and dye happy.
Leah
I have indigo (wild), and Japanese (Knotweed) indigo, coriopsis tinctura, BES, QAL, Sulfer Cosmos, and the pots of last year's Madder to go in this spring. No pictures yet. Mostly, I'm spinning wool right now so I have something to dye when the pots are ready. Going to do some orange and black for my daughter ( Princetons colors). Maybe a hat or a scarf. The little one wants a tyedyed effect with blue yellow and green. Milkweed and goldenrod are abundant in this area so the yellows aren't a problem.
I'll grow the indigo, and then overdye for the bright green that she wants.
Still trying for the wonderful BES olive, though I'm starting to think it isn't in the cards for me. I know we have some rhubarb around here somewhere. I'll let a couple go to seed. The dried seeds yield a particularly lovely dark bronze color. Greens from the leaves, berries and bark of the buckthorn (grows like a weed here) which will be a new dyepot for me. I'm very short on yellow and peach for the spinning, so I have to do some jewelweed and coreiopsis tinc. for the peaches.
I'm planting last years Hopi Black Sunflower Seeds, and I'll have to buy the red dye amaranth color. The fresh sunflowers + copper give a lovely lasting dark purple color. I didn't know I needed fresh and dried mine so I ended up with a muddy brownish purple that was a waste of time. I didn't even dye wool with it.
Thats about it for now. Live well and dye happy.
Leah
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