Even though it’s getting cold and nasty, doesn’t mean it can’t look pretty from the inside. This pheasant clearly thinks he’s king of the garden. Or maybe he’s just waiting for the sparrows to drop a few seeds from the feeder…
Tag: garden
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…. 😉
My new dye bed
See that strip of yellow? Yes, dead grass, and I know some people (you know who you are too) are wrinkling their noses at me, but I need all the help I can get battling grass and weeds at the moment. Sorry….
Right now the ground is like concrete, but once the autumn rains begin, I’m thinking I can dig up that turf, make a nice edge, till the earth and next summer add some better material to plant in and put my dye plants here. Actually I need a place to put my strawberries as well, so I may have a lot of digging to do.
I already have weld, woad and dyer’s chamomile in my not-to-be vegetable garden. I meant it to be, but as hard as it is to battle weeds on a field of clay previously used for grain, it becomes impossible when a ton of thistle seeds are accidentally blown into the place covering it like a BLANKET, no kidding, it just becomes impossible. The mice ruin my new plum trees. So I have a few berry bushes in there, use the space as a tree nursery from time to time and to heck with it.
So my new plant list so far is (yes, I’ve been through “A Dyer’s Garden
- Coreopsis tinctoria – I love how you can get both orange and yellow from this in the same dyebath and how little plant material is needed. Instant gratification!
- Weld – Reseda luteola
- Dyer’s Chamomile – Anthemis tinctoria
- Telekia
- Japanese indigo?
- St. John’s Wort – Hypericum perforatum
- Marjoram – origanum majorana
- Bronze fennel – Foeniculum vulgare
- Purple basil
- Hollyhock?
- Black eyed susan – Rudbeckia fulgida
- Marigold – tagetes
- Comfrey – symphytum
Goldenrod and tansy and purple loosestrife I can find in the forest. Others I already have on various parts of the property (10 acres).
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Farvebed
Jeg mÃ¥ desværre tage “det gule hakkejern” til hjælp i øjeblikket hvis jeg skal nÃ¥ haveopgaverne, sÃ¥ her har jeg gjort klar til mit forhÃ¥bentlig nye farvebed som jeg vil grave op og klargøre nÃ¥r vi fÃ¥r lidt vand til jorden, den er som beton lige nu. Et udmærket efterÃ¥rsprojekt?
Min køkkenhave, hvor den slags ellers skulle foregÃ¥, blev desværre overblæst med tidselfrø fra grønthøsteren, et tykt tæppe, sÃ¥ nu har jeg opgivet, der bor et par solbærbuske som med nød og næppe kan findes frem hver sommer….
Planteliste:
- Coreopsis tinctoria – skønhedsøje. Orange og gul fra samme farvebad og masser af krudt i!
- Anthemis tinctoria Рfarveg̴seurt
- Reseda luteola – Vau
- Telekia Рtusindstr̴le
- Japansk indigo?
- Symphytum – kulsukker
- Hypericum perforatum – sankthansurt
- Havemerian – Origanum majorana
- Bronzefennikel – Foeniculum vulgare
- Sort stokrose
- Rudbeckia fulgida – solhat
- Tagetes
Garden tour through the seasons
Just a few snapshots from around the place through the 10 years we’ve been here.
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