the spreading of blue love / the love of blue

from Marion Hera Gorr and Tarla Elward 



Here is a little tale of spreading it around....first from Tarla


Back in June 2013, during the India Flint Zero Waste Dress Workshop here on Tamborine Mountain, India and I were wandering through my orchard, when she suggested that I could grow Indigo here….well that was the first seed sown. I then sourced Persicaria tinctoria seed through Rare Herbs and that was the beginning. It has taken me 12 months to do the research, by reading, attending workshops various and grow sufficient indigo to compost enough leaves. I am using the Michael Garcia 1,2,3 recipe to produce some really good blues, lots of testing and note taking….I think my family are starting to hide their whites!  

and from Marion

Being also inspired in blue ways, I decided to grow an indigo patch at India’s suggestion.  Knowing I needed many more seeds than I had, Tarla Elward kindly sent a surplus of her Persicaria tinctoria seed to me.  Located in the more temperate climate of South West Victoria, my plants are not yet lush but are healthy and growing rapidly.  I’ve also planted Sunflowers and Dahlias in that spot, a very sheltered north facing aspect.  Fingers crossed!   

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to read more on the growing and processing of this beautiful plant, visit IndiGrowing Blue, the fascinating and informative website about Rowland Ricketts' ambitions for indigo [and all the hard work that he and his volunteers have put into it]

St John's Wort

dear friends
it's that time of year when that noxious weed [but lovely dye plant]
Hypericum perforatum a.k.a. St John's Wort
is blooming on road and rail sides across Australia

as dyers we can do our bit for the environment and gather a useful resource at the same time

it yields colours from burgundy through yellow and green

folk medicine suggests it is useful as a medication to combat depression but i would strongly argue against that...as it induces photosensitivity [meaning you're more likely to burn in the sun] and can damage your eyesight [eating it can send a horse blind]

Inaugural post

Firstly, for the first blog of the Australian Natural Dye Group a huge Thank You to India for helping create this - a bit too much for me to do.
Please help this blog expand and share the fantastic wealth of knowledge that it is abundant in this group.  Looking forward to reading all the posts in the future.