Nectarine Sherbet

A few days ago I tried out this oh-so-simple nectarine sherbet recipe from my friend at Yummy Supper and it came out sooooo YUM!

I'm sure it can also be adapted for all the other stonefruits in season now!

Richmond Grows & Dyes!

The surprise of the day - Avocado pits!

Our cold turmeric dye bath

Participants preparing their samples using Shibori techniques

Showing the homemade Iron mordant

"How many of you love plants!?"

I am so happy after a successful workshop. The feeling of inspiring others with the colors of natures is so satisfying and enjoyable. Thank you to all the participants of Permacouture Institute's first Seeds to Sew workshop at the Richmond Public Library this Saturday. And huge thanks to Rebecca Newburn for organizing and starting the Seed Library there.

I'll be teaching another introductory natural dye workshop outdoors at the Berkeley Eco House on August 27th - Hope to see you there!

Fennel Dye

In preparation for tomorrow's workshop at Richmond Grows I started a fennel dye today. Yesterday as I was out and about picking up some rusty objects (post on that coming soon) when I saw a nice clump of fennel growing in the parking lot. After asking I harvested a bunch and brought it home with me.

Today I threw the leaves and flowers into a 5L glass jar and poured hot water over the leaves. I'll let this steep and stew overnight and tomorrow during the workshop we'll boil up the leaves with our fibers.

With so much fennel growing everywhere, this makes sense as a wonderful dye for our area. But, always be sure to ask the landowner before you go out with your clippers. Another very important point is that this plant, though introduced and invasive, is a very important habitat species. It is the host plant for the Anise Swallowtail butterfly. After checking in with the land-owner also be sure to avoid harvesting caterpillar eggs along with your dyestuff.

Seeds to Sew: Tagging Dye Plants at the Richmond Seed library

Last month, with the Permacouture Institute, we launched our "Seeds to Sew" project at the Richmond Grows Seed Library. Yesterday I went over to the library and got to use the nifty new stamp we made to tag seeds.

This logo indicates that a seed in the library has natural dye properties and encourages you to grow dye plants and begin creating beautiful colors from nature. There are helpful plant lists and natural dye recipes available at the library.

And on Saturday July 16th I'll be teaching an introductory workshop on getting started with natural dyes at the library from 1pm-3pm. You can sign up here

lichen/moss inspiration