Plant-based dyes natural fibers in the Connecticut River Valley
This post is one of the many posts I ve been meaning to write since 2024. A long time ago. We don t know how long. Well, OK, in this case we do know how long, thanks to math and calendars and our lived experience. Why post now? Because 2024 wasn t the first time I ve had to [ ] The post Japanese Indigo Vs. Whitefly first appeared on Local Color Dyes .
New year, new attempt to revive my beloved but neglected blog with a post about my garden in winter. These photos are from midday Saturday January 3rd, 2026. Here are two slightly different perspectives. One view says, Sticks are here, amidst other sticks. Big sticks and little sticks, above and below, in many shades of [ ] The post Goings On in the Winter Garden first appeared on Local Color Dyes…
I have a giant backlog of posts to write from 2024. Selected photos are sitting in folders labeled things like, Weld Regrows After Cutting, Mice Like Japanese Indigo Seeds, Making Lakes, and Swamp Milkweed Returns. Maybe I will write those posts at some point. They re not exactly time-sensitive updates, more like observations and experiences to [ ] The post Unusual Woad Behavior first appeared on…
This blog post is about bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘purpureum’ or ‘rubrum’), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta spp.), and yarrow (Achillea millefolium spp.). It could also be called The Case of the Disappearing Rudbeckia. To state my conclusions up-front, bronze fennel is allelopathic, black-eyed Susan cultivars are short lived perennials, and the yarrow remains a mystery. [ ] The post A…
Way back in 2020 I got some lovely, lustrous Romney fleece from the Richardsons in Phillipston, MA. Yes, that 2020. I dyed a lot of it blue with woad. When I post photos of my dyeing results, sometimes people ask me, What are you going to do with it? I m tempted to say, Do? What [ ] The post Blue and Black Yarn first appeared on Local Color Dyes .
To re-cap, I had managed to transform linen yarns, grown and hand spun at Aker Fiber Farm in New Hampshire, from lovely shades of silvery- and golden-tan into more drab versions of same colors. This was deeply dissatisfying. But, if at first you don t succeed try, try again. I thought about the factors that might [ ] The post Making Brown with Black Walnuts Part Two first appeared on Local Color…
Fall 2023 was a bumper year for black walnuts around here. I started collecting them in October, and with very little effort filled up three 5-gallon buckets. To prevent them from getting black and oozy, I filled the buckets with water. Being submerged under water kept them pretty fresh. I covered the buckets and stacked [ ] The post Making Brown with Black Walnuts Part One first appeared on Local…
Hi Folks, I m back. Social media is a funny thing. Back in July of 2019 I started an Instagram account @localcolordyes to get a little buzz going about the upcoming natural dye exhibition, The Art and Science of Dyeing, at the Botanic Garden at Smith College. I had the honor of dyeing the fabric for [ ] The post Back in Black (Walnut) first appeared on Local Color Dyes .
I love gardening. As someone who doesn t own property, I have always been grateful for access to land to cultivate a garden, whether it was a town community garden plot or space on a farm owned or managed by a generous neighbor. There s nothing quite as grounding or satisfying as getting my hands in the [ ] The post There’s Treasure Everywhere! first appeared on Local Color Dyes .
Before the woad that (almost) wasn t, there was the woad that was. I planted a bed at the end of May, and it grew just fine. Here it is, a teensy bit past its prime but still happy as can be, on August 7th. I harvested 4 lbs. of leaves. I know I have posted [ ] The post The Woad That Was first appeared on Local Color Dyes .