Harvest

I’ve been deadheading Dyer’s Chamomile all summer and drying the flowers – 430 g I have, which is about 1/4 of the original weight. Yes, I did dry 100 g separately, so I could weigh them after!

Today I while checking my apples I saw there were flowers again. So I picked another batch, probably the last. As well as a new batch of weld. I should have enough to play with this winter! I’ve dried all the weld from this summer, as I haven’t had time to play with it.

I also found, deep in the grass of my failed vegetable garden, some of the madder I planted last year. I think I’ll try to dig them up and relocate, but I don’t think I have the patience to wait 3-4 years for dyestuff. I can buy it not that expensively by the kilo, all dried and ready.

Other dry stuff to play with hiding in my drawer is black hollyhock, bark from Rhamnus frangula (Alder Buckthorn?), sumac bark, Cochineal and 100 g of Rathania root (Krameria triandra) and lots of onion peels.

Now all that waits is to see if I get any elderberries to experiment with. Since the privet lost its berries before they even grew (lots of flowers on it in spring). But right now they’re only just going from green to black, so I’ll have to watch out. I hope to be able to make some juice for hot winter drinks as well.

Otherwise I didn’t do much today apart from boiling a skein of sock yarn, that I needed to know how soft it is after dye and wash. Sigh. I just can’t hear the friggin pot simmer even when I’m in the same room. It’s all y’all’s fault ya know. If I didn’t sit here writing at you, I wouldn’t ruin a fortune in wool…. 😉

5 thoughts on “Harvest

  1. The dyer’s chamomile is an amazing bloomer–i had a brain fart though and didn’t pick the first batch of flower heads so now am going to have a less bounteous yield. Still some for experimenting with though.
    Sorry about that sharing thing :)–i feel the same way sometimes.

  2. I’ll be watching what you do with dyer’s chamomile. I have a good sized plant which is in bud at the moment. Drying the flowers sounds like a good way to get a decent amount saved… but I must admit that I have never bought yellow yarn and when I have dyed it I’ve used silky oak (Grevillea Robusta) leaves, which are an easy all-year-round source in my neighbourhood.

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