That time of year again

... where the japanese indigo is ready for harvesting. Maybe it has been for some time now, but since it needs my hands for working the magic, it had to wait for me to make time. This is what the patch looked like the 21th of July. Until then we had a dry spell, after the rain came they've grown a lot!

I've harvested 6 kg of leaves, which have been standing in jars and buckets outside until today. Too cold, though, for things to happen properly. I've moved it all inside now, and lit up the mass oven so they can get some warmth standing on the bench of the mass oven. Hopefully friday it'll be ready for dyeing.

 Ahh! Doesn't it look gorgeous?

I have a huge amount of plants, I won't be able to use them all. I hadn't the heart to throw away all those lovely seedlings in the spring. I'll gladly share my seeds again this year - when they're ripe!

There have been some eco printing going on this summer, some of it went horribly wrong. Note to self: NEVER use cochenille when you do not like it - even in order to try to make other people happy. I do NOT like cochenille pink in my prints or on my clothes.

I do like this new coreopsis, though. It's called Coreopsis Penny, and is very pretty just as it is - but it  also has splendid possibilities for printing.