Starting the Dye Garden

I love seeing these Japanese Indigo seedlings every morning.

I feel like every knitter gets to a point in their journey where they fantasize about creating their own yarn. For some this involves just dyeing and selling, for others this means acquiring a whole farm, raising sheep, and becoming fully immersed in the processes of growing, shearing, spinning, dyeing, then selling or making. I unequivocally fall into the second category. Having my own sheep and alpaca farm would be a dream come true. The self-sufficiency of having a farm plus the total freedom in making is something I long for. Sadly, it’s just not in the budget right now. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t take little steps to actualize this dream. This is why I tried growing cotton two years ago, and am growing flax this season. Living in suburbia might have its limitations, but the possibilities are never zero.

Admittedly, starting a dye garden was not something I initially planned to do. It sort of just found me. I happened to be browsing the Woolery’s website (https://woolery.com/ a fantastic resource for fiber artists) one day, and found they have some seeds for sale. Curious about what kind of seeds a fiber website would be selling, I clicked on the link. I was expecting cotton or flax, but, to my surprise, they were seeds for dye plants. I was intrigued. Despite having been involved with the knitting community for so long, I had no idea these were a thing. I did not know anything about those plants. I didn’t even know if they were hardy enough to thrive where I live, let alone how to extract the dyes from them. So, I did what any rational fiber artist would do and bought a bunch of these seeds so I could meet the order minimum for the rest of my order to get free shipping.

I only bought the ones that sounded cool: True Indigo, Weld, Amaranth, and Joe Pye Weed. It was only later that I decided to do more research on these plants. Unfortunately, it turned out that True Indigo would not thrive in my climate. Sure, I might get a chance to harvest some leaves, but I would have had to buy new seeds the following season. The prospect of growing a plant just to watch it wither away and die in our winters, without completing its life cycle, didn’t feel right. So, after a bit more research, I found another alternative, Japanese Indigo! This plant is much hardier, and was preferred in northern Japan because it can endure the winters there. Not wanting to miss the planting window, I quickly turned to Etsy for seeds. This is my preferred way to source seeds because I like supporting small businesses and farms. In my haste, I neglected to research the other seeds I had purchased.

Anita from Walnut Farm Designs is a fantastic seller!

Fortunately, Etsy pulled through! I found a wonderful dyer, artist, and seller, Walnut Farm Designs (https://www.etsy.com/shop/WalnutFarmDesigns ), and ordered some more seeds. Anita, the shop owner, is very passionate about her craft. She sells fantastic seeds (all of them sprouted) and provides information packets for free with each order. Being inspired by her love of dyeing, I ordered some more Weld (because I forgot that was part of my Woolery order), Madder, and Murasaki, in addition to the Japanese Indigo. I was most excited about the indigo, but I also thought the other plants would be fun to experiment with. Having access to more colors never hurt anyone.

I began with the indigo. Admittedly, I was a bit apprehensive about starting these seeds. I wasn’t sure what the germination rate would be, so I ordered a packet from another seller (Ramble and Roots https://www.etsy.com/shop/RambleandRoots ), then started all of them on a little tray indoors. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to diversify. Within about a week and a half, practically all of the seeds sprouted. I was overjoyed at this success! But, I also knew I had to act quickly. The little sprouts needed more sunlight, and they would outgrow the little tray they sprouted in within days. Riding on the wings of this early success, I wanted to try growing the other seeds too. Fortunately, I did some more research this time.

Thanks to Anita, and other online sources (namely Susan Dye at https://www.naturesrainbow.co.uk/ ), I learned that the dyestuff for Madder and Murasaki is stored in the roots. I also learned that Madder can quickly become an invasive vine if not kept in check. So, just to make my life a bit easier, I opted to grow everything outside in containers. These were easily sourced from the local hardware store, along with potting mix. Admittedly, I am not sure how the potting mix will impact dye development; but that’s the fun of experimentation. It might yield some amazing results!

Despite merciless squirrel activity, the flax plants are looking great.

I ended up with more indigo than would fit in my containers, so I put the rest in the empty half of my flax bed. I had no idea that starting this garden would invite open and unmitigated hostility from the squirrels in my neighborhood. It’s like they declared war and it was open season on my poor little plants. I had to speedily get squirrel-savvy, and the internet did not disappoint. But, that is a story for a future blog post. So far, I am very happy with the results of this garden! I started the rest of the seeds about two weeks ago and everything has sprouted. Seeing the little seedlings each morning brings me such joy. I don’t have any kids of my own, but I certainly feel like I’m becoming a plant dad.

Although this was not part of my initial plan, I really like this little dye garden. It’s a beautiful serendipity. I literally get to see the fruits of my labor, and will hopefully get to have fun experimenting with different dyes! It feels fantastic for the soul. According to my research, the Murasaki and Madder take about 2-3 years to develop large enough roots to be worth harvesting, but I can have fun with the blues, yellows, and subsequent greens that the indigo and weld will produce this season. It’s a very exciting time for me. I just want to take a moment to thank God for this success and for supporting me with His help in this journey. I will certainly be keeping a dye plot around when I start my farm one day, and I will continue updating you all about my adventures in gardening and fiber arts. Until then, see you next post!