Let the mixing begin. I only wore my mask till all the powders were wetted out and not floating in the air. Now watching the heat. A watched vat does not get hot fast. Thanks to everyone that mixed before me in the February class by Elisabeth so I could ponder the process. Here is a link to her classes. Ferrous sulfate and calcium hydroxide measured out. Got an idea of dry volume and water needed to dissolve. Pasted indigo gets one more stir to suspend pigment in the water. I left it overnight to let lumps soften & settle. Vessels have heated water and ingredients added to di ..read more

Monday was all about moving water, pasting indigo and prepping other ingredients. For me it is getting an idea of how many prep vessels one needs to dissolve everything properly.  Earlier this month I tested temperatures on my outside dye patio in my new 100 liter vat with and without heat. I captured the temperature range info for future reference. The vat is shaded from sun so I wanted to get an idea of the temperature range here in very early spring in the Texas Hill country. I measured the initial 100 liters to measure and see water depth for the proper water volume.  Plus to se ..read more

Continuing on lessons learned from Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw on building an iron vat I am looking for a way to heat my 26 gallon vat. My first try with my current aquarium heater was a bust due to its limiting heat at 80 degrees F. So I went back to researching and found a bucket immersion heater with the proper heat range. The first one arrived with an in box warning of “do not use in iron container”. This was not on the web page when initially ordered. Since this is an iron vat, I decided to return it and reload and try again. The 2nd immersion heater arrived with no such warning. This one he ..read more

I decided with our drought and 105 degree extended string of days in the Texas Hill country I would try a smaller vat under shelter. Familiar with a fructose vat and its depth of shade I was ready to try an iron vat and explore its use and impact on our surrounding environment. We are on a well and septic system and in the middle of a rural area so I wanted to make sure I understood that type vat and had a way to dispose of waters safely. My current solar vat is 110 gallons. The new iron vat I am trying is 26 gallons, much smaller and hopefully will give better depths of shade faster than the ..read more

It always starts out wet in the spring, so you have little warning that a drought is in the works. We had a wet and cool spring. As I waited for the ground and weather to warm up I decided to compare four different indigoferas. Two were collected from wild areas with no clear identification or knowledge how they came to be in the area. I call them Junction and Bastrop. Both are found in river flood areas in the general area of these cities in Central Texas. The Junction seed was gifted to me but was older seed, one season past when I would normally plant a seed. Foragers had collected the lea ..read more

First, 2022 seeds are ready for purchase in my Etsy Shop! If it shows sold out, someone beat you to them. I am still cracking seed and will be restocking. Earlier this month in Texas we had an extended spring which gave me time to clean out the February ice damage. 1/2 inch ice damage Wouldn’t you know, we went out of town for a week and an unforecasted ice storm hit. I had not covered my plants as usual. Lesson learned. A few survived, but very few, this is why I warn folks who are north of the zone it might just be seasonal. Now, I am planting out my potted seedlings and the Texas pre-heat j ..read more

The spring temps are cranking up for Indigofera Suffruticosa planting. I just put a limited amount of seeds up in my Etsy Shop. If it shows as sold out it means folks beat you to it but I am still cracking seed and will reannounce ..read more

We have major heat and drought here in Central Texas. I cannot justify running my Big Indigo Jar this year due to the looming water restraints. Although the 110 gallons lasts all summer there is also the rinsing with water. That’s water that is needed elsewhere. We are on well & rainwater, both are limited resources this year. I am sad to not be using this 100° heat this summer but it has been relentless, starting in early May and cranking up to 104°+ in June. Major heat that high usually does not start till July. Prep was physically uncomfortable without a rainy break to cool things down ..read more

Enough folks have asked me about dyeing with our Texas persimmon that I gather up my random blog process posts from over the years and give you the steps first and then put in web links to my blog entries to give a bit of visual detail. The persimmons are green right now, get out there before the sun cranks up and pick them. You can hold them in the fridge until you gather enough for your holding vessel. About a pound of fruit gives you enough to experiment with.  I don’t bother with pulling the leaves on the top of the fruit, they are along for the ride until you strain. Enjoy!&nbs ..read more

Short and sweet, I just updated my Etsy shop with seeds for your 2022 growing pleasure. Reminder, all seeds have been harvested from the pod. I included a seed pod for you to see what they look like. Enjoy! Deb Mc PS, if I see you have an address out of the growing range I will message you to alert you before I ship to make sure you know IS is unhappy in cold climates ..read more