Practical Formulas

Every homesteader needs a resource like Rodale's Book of Practical Formulas (Rodale Press, Inc., New York, 1991). It is filled with recipes and formulas for all your do-it-yourself, cleaning, remodeling, repairing, camping, celebrating, and problem-solving projects. My sister gave this book to me one Christmas, and I refer to it anytime I want a non-toxic, sustainable, low cost solution to a project. The section on cleaning solutions for tile and grout is especially well used. The book is written by a team of experts in their fields, and provides a distilled version of their expertise. 

The book is divided into ten chapters that cover most areas of life: Car Care, Cooking, Gardening, Beauty, Health, Home Repair and Remodeling, Housekeeping, Crafts, Pet Care, and Outdoor Life. Recipes and formulas range from driveway cleaner, a one-minute breakfast, cutworm bait, apple-cider vinegar toner, and chapped lips salve; to colored concrete, lemon oil furniture polish, flower drying mixes, deluxe dog biscuits, and hiker's granola. The backmatter provides a list of supply sources from all over the world (herbs and spices, beeswax, diatomaceous earth, orange oil, plaster molds, dyes and mordants, to name a few).

Two of my favorite chapters are Gardening and Crafts. The Gardening chapter provides recipes for seed starting and soil mixes, natural fertilizers, compost and pest repellents. Other formulas encourage root growth and sterilize containers. The Crafts chapter includes a section on "Dye Crafts", with information about plants used for dyeing, and how to dye wool (should be useful when I expand from dyeing cellulose-based fibers to protein-based fibers). I heartily recommend this book for any task or project you need to tackle. And, when you're ready for a break, head over to the Cooking chapter for the sandwich bar and apple crisp! 

Seed Sources to Dye For

 I'm writing this post in the midst of a February "heat wave" in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've had temperatures in the mid-seventies during the day, which quickly cool to the high-fifties when the sun sets. Many people are out jogging, walking the dog, and starting their garden clean up. We all know this is temporary - in a few days we'll be back to the mid-sixties or lower. But it's enough to give us hope for the warm days to come, and to encourage us to think about garden plans. 

Hopi Red Dye Amaranth (Photo Credit: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

I'm taking the opportunity to research seed sources for plants that are especially good for dyeing.

• In A Garden to Dye For, Chris McLaughlin recommends Peaceful Valley Farm & Seed Supply in Grass Valley, CA. Their online store, GrowOrganic.com, lists a "Garden to Dye For " seed collection for plants that make great botanical dyes, like African Marigold (Tagetes erecta), Chantenay Carrot (Daucus carota var. sativus), and Orange Calendula (Calendula officinalis). If it's out of stock, add your name to the waitlist.

• She also recommends Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Mineral, Virginia as a source. A search for "dye plants" yields Calendula (C. officinalis), Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), and Hopi Dye Sunflower (Helianthus annuus).

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, Missouri looks intriguing. They also carry Hopi Dye Sunflower, which dyes shades from dove gray to deep purple; and Hopi Red Dye Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus x powellii), which dyes piki bread (and fabric?) a deep blue or purple.

• Closer to home is Siskiyou Seeds located in southwest Oregon. They carry two Dyer's Collections for the avid dyer and gardener. Dyer's Collection 1 includes: Cosmos (Cosmos spp.), Safflower orange (Carthamus tinctorius), and Zinnia scarlet (Zinnia spp.) and more. Dyer's Collection 2 includes: Amaranth Red Dye Plume (Amaranthus cruentus x A. powelli), Dyers Chamomile (Cota tinctoria), and Golden Yarrow (Achillea filipendulina) and others.

• I'm a loyal and long-standing client of Renee's Garden Seeds (stretching all the way back to its early days as Shepherd's Garden Seeds). Last year I planted the Marigold, Calendula and Coreopsis seeds with good results. 

Hopi Black Dye Sunflower (Photo Credit: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

It's encouraging that seed providers are offering seeds collections for dyers, and that some seed descriptions now include historical and ethnobotanical information. Plant names can also help you discern whether plants are good for dyeing. Common names may have the word "Dyer" in them, such as Dyer's Chamomile or Dyer's Indigo. Latin names may include some variation of  tinctoria or tinctorius, such as Carthamus tinctorius or Cota tinctoria, which indicates the plant is good for dyeing. This information makes it easier to start including a few dye plants in the garden plan!

A Garden to Dye For

 A Garden to Dye For, by Chris McLaughlin (St. Lynn’s Press, Pittsburgh, 2014) is a resource for the home dyer, gardener, or crafter. McLaughlin brings all these domains together in this gem of a book. Her focus is to provide simple recipes that make dyeing accessible to gardeners and crafters, and not complex, scientific formulas for the advanced dyer. The book includes beautiful photographs, lots of ideas, and information about flowers, plants, and herbs that yield an amazing rainbow of colors. 

The Introduction and Chapter One provide an overview of dyeing terms and concepts that is useful for both new and seasoned dyers. Chapter Two is about tooling up - fiber, equipment, mordant, extracting color, and easy dye projects to get started. Chapters Three - Six describe plant color sources from flowers in your garden, vegetables and fruits, herbs, spices, and foraged material from nature. The descriptions for each plant include a "Where the Color Is" section (very useful, because sometimes the color source is unexpected). Chapter Seven provides information about planning and planting a dye garden. The back matter includes a plant index; sources for fiber, textiles, dyes, mordants, and dye plants; online information sources; and books.

This book promotes dyeing as an adventure. Experimentation and curiosity are encouraged. McLaughlin is a California gardener and dyer, and I appreciate that she includes plants that can be foraged locally, such as coyote bush, toyon, lichen, blackberry, eucalyptus, juniper, oak, and more. Kitchen waste, such as avocado skins/pits, tea bags, coffee grounds and onion skins are dye sources; as are marigold, dahlia, and calendula from the flower garden. She has inspired me to try dyeing wool yarn, a protein-based fiber (my sister has also encouraged me to try this). Up until now I've only dyed plant-based fiber. Other fun projects include eco-printing, Easter egg dyeing, and dyeing home made play dough. I highly recommend this book, whether you're just starting out or are an experienced dyer. If your interests spill over into multiple domains (dyeing, gardening, and crafting) all the more!

Month-by-Month: Winter

Today it is a beautiful sunny day here in the San Francisco East Bay. It's a chilly 57 degrees, but sunshine is streaming through the windows and the furnace is humming away. Outside, the hummingbird feeder is full and attracting a lot of visitors, and the sunlight is filtering through the pittosporum leaves in the side yard. The sunny weather looks inviting from inside, but it's not quite warm enough to lure me out of my sunny, cozy office. 

Planning in progress!

Instead, I'm spending time on the University of California Master Gardeners of Alameda County website, specifically the Your Alameda County Garden, Month-by-Month page. My mission is to see what garden activities I can be doing in January, February and March, until the warmer days of spring. Activities listed for the winter months include planning the summer garden, and starting seeds indoors for cool season leafy vegetables and warm season crops. Two especially useful resources for the East Bay include:

• Lake Merritt Trials Garden - see the historical "Recommended Veggies" and "Spinach Trials" articles for specific varieties that do well in our area.
• Plant Recommendations West of the East Bay Hills - see when to plant cool and warm season crops, and herbs in our cool coastal climate.

In the spirit of "homesteading in the city", I've already procured seeds and supplies needed to sow seeds early. I've set up a spreadsheet with seed information, and room to record notes and observations. I admit that I'm not very accomplished at growing vegetables, but I enjoy the process of trying. Plus, it makes me grateful for the bounty at Safeway and Lucky down the street, and the weekly Farmer's Market in Montclair (all worthy food sources for homesteading in the city)!