To celebrate the arrival of autumn we arranged another community event at the garden. The team did a fantastic job, facilitating an upholstery class in the new woodworking workshop, leading bike rides, planting winter crops, making some fresh soup and hosting local school pupils who came along to harvest toppings and cook a pizza all from the garden produce.
Of course I was there with my flowers and leaves… starting off with some delicious tea made from freshly snipped calendula and fennel.
It was great to have the outdoor cooking space, with wood burning stove and pizza oven, to gather round.
We picked a load of marigold flowers, so many had opened up since the main harvest just a week earlier, and simmered them in water on the stove. We did some more plant hammering - which has become a big favourite activity - and dyed some silk blue with fresh indigo leaves.
After about an hour on the stove I added some pre-treated cotton to the pot with the marigolds, which produced a lovely muted olive green fabric. The remaining dye bath was brought home and went in the fridge for further experiments!
Everyone created beautiful fabrics and botanical art throughout the day and as always the activities sparked some super interesting conversations and connections.
The community that I’ve become part of through the dye garden and these events has been one of the best things to come out of this project. I started out at the beginning of the year looking for a wee bit of land to grow some plants, but have been lucky enough to have gained connections and friendship with some brilliant, knowledgable, welcoming and enthusiastic members of our island community too. I’m really looking forward to planning the next growing season.
The next task is to start using all these pigments in my artwork. The experience of this year, of growing and working in the garden, is something that will undoubtedly find its way into the paintings too!