my first attempt at growing dye plants
This year I decided to try my hand at growing Japanese indigo (polygorum tinctorium) also known as dyer's knotweed. This plant makes a blue dye similar to indigo (indigofera suffruticosa), but is better suited to our cold climate and short growing season. (My other choice was woad, which has potential to become a noxious weed and is even illegal to grow in certain western states.) I have never done any dying at home but the idea of dying wool from my own sheep with dye plants from my own garden, is really intriguing. (I took a 1/2 days dying workshop once - about 3 years ago.)
I started these plants in the basement under lights from seeds I ordered from Companion Plants. I was a little late getting them moved outdoors since we had not finished building the boxes for my little not-so-raised beds. They didn't die indoors, but once they got to a certain size, they didn't grow a lot either.
Once they moved outside, they looked like they were surely going to die, but all of a sudden they have taken off! (It rained today, so they are a little muddy.)
One interesting thing about these plants is that any damage to the leaves turns blue/purple in color.
Unfortunately my runner ducks also discovered this sudden growth spurt yesterday and consumed quite a few leaves off of one of my five plants. (The ducks appear to be were unharmed by this little culinary experiment.)
So after a quick run to Farm and Fleet yesterday evening, the 4 healthy and one damaged plant are now living in jail.
I know I have some week whacking to do. That might happen over the weekend...
I am not sure if they will be large enough to harvest any leaves before the first frost in fall, but it is a fun little experiment.
I started these plants in the basement under lights from seeds I ordered from Companion Plants. I was a little late getting them moved outdoors since we had not finished building the boxes for my little not-so-raised beds. They didn't die indoors, but once they got to a certain size, they didn't grow a lot either.
Once they moved outside, they looked like they were surely going to die, but all of a sudden they have taken off! (It rained today, so they are a little muddy.)
One interesting thing about these plants is that any damage to the leaves turns blue/purple in color.
Unfortunately my runner ducks also discovered this sudden growth spurt yesterday and consumed quite a few leaves off of one of my five plants. (The ducks appear to be were unharmed by this little culinary experiment.)
So after a quick run to Farm and Fleet yesterday evening, the 4 healthy and one damaged plant are now living in jail.
I know I have some week whacking to do. That might happen over the weekend...
I am not sure if they will be large enough to harvest any leaves before the first frost in fall, but it is a fun little experiment.
Comments