Natural dyes

I've been experimenting with natural dyes this week. I bought a 100% lambswool twill blanket at a thrift store for $6 and made it into a Skjolenham hood and an Anglo-Saxon jacket. Unfortunately, it was beige. I dislike beige. Intensely. So, I thought that I could try re-dyeing it.

That was this week's experiment.

I tried the hood first because it was smaller, and I would be less unhappy if it failed horribly. I used powdered weld extract, and it came out a gorgeous dark spring green. Considering I used weld to colour and alum as a mordant it should have come out yellow. I suspect that the original mordant on the blanket was copper (which turns weld green).

Next was the jacket, and it wasn't as much of a success. I suspect that the larger volume of cloth in my kettle (ie. canning pot) made the movement of both mordant and dye a bit more constricted. As well, I was using ground up madder root, and I possibly didn't let it 'extract itself' long enough before putting in the cloth on the first attempt. So, it came out a bit motley. I washed it thoroughly in the washing machine and tried again. It came out a much more uniform colour. It may have gotten a bit too warm as it has an orange-ish tinge to it, also, the probably use of copper as the first dye mordant would have done that as well. I did find my dye thermometer afterwards, though, which is good. I won't have to guess at any future temperatures for dyeing.

The joys of moving.

With this warm weather my saffron popped up. I hope they can weather this weather and last until fall... *sigh* I've nick-named that grey squirrel that lives in my backyard 'Stew'... Because that's what I'm going to make him into eventually when I snap because he's eating my saffron bulbs and other things that he likes... The chicken wire is slowing him down a bit, thankfully.

Leftover roasted root vegetable soup

You can make this recipe dairy free and vegan if you substitute coconut oil for butter and full-fat coconut milk for the cream.

If you don't have leftovers you can roast up some cauliflower, parsnips and carrots

Leftover roasted root vegetable soup with caramelized onions and apples

• Roasted root veggies
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (uless there's already garlic in your roasted veggie mix)
• Enough vegetable broth to cover your veggies
• 1/2 cup cream (or more, to taste, especially if you're making a big pot of soup)
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 large apple, diced
• 1 teaspoon oil of your choice (or butter)
• Salt and pepper

Hot spiced cider

Hot Spiced Cider

• One small apple (optional)
• 1/2c brown sugar or dark honey
• 8c apple juice or local cider
• 1tsp whole allspice (I never have it around, but it's yummy if you do)
• 1tsp whole cloves
• 4-6 whole cinnamon sticks

Rhubarb crumble

I have waaaay too much rhubarb in the freezer and it needs to get used up.

Rhubarb Crumble

• Enough roughly chopped rhubarb to cover the bottom of your baking dish to a depth that makes you happy (but not too thick or it's going to be quite sour- unless you like that)
• 1/3c unsalted butter or butter substitute (unless you have salted on hand- no biggie)
• 3/4c ground almonds
• 1/3c honey, preferably local (non-store-bought has more flavour) or use a syrup of your choosing for the vegan option
• 1tsp vanilla extract (optional unless you have something gf)
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2c flaked almonds (if you can find unbleached all the better)

Herbal hot chocolate

Herbal Hot Chocolate 

• 3 oz really good chocolate (the best you can afford)
• 2c milk of your choice (cow, almond, rice, coconut, etc)
• 1/4c cream (optional- cow or coconut)
• 2tsp dried herbs (combinations suggested below, or experiment)

Method

• Put your milk and herbs in a small sauce pan and heat gently and slowly (you don't want to scorch the milk and have it stick to the bottom of the pan
• Take it off the heat and let it cool while you chop the chocolate
• Strain the herbs out of the milk and back into the sauce pan. Add the chocolate.
• Heat again very slowly and over a low heat. The chocolate will melt. Whisk very frequently.
• Pour into a mug when it is quite warm to the touch, but not boiling.

List of good herbs and other ingredients- mint, bee balm, lemon balm, lemon verbena, sweet violet, rose, citrus (from organic peels), ginger, lavender, raspberry leaves

Herb combination suggestions- White chocolate and lavender, milk chocolate with citrus and ginger, white chocolate with sweet violet and rose, dark chocolate with raspberry leaves and mint, dark chocolate with lemon balm and ginger.

Hopefully this will help you get through the long, dark teatime of the soul in January and February... Along with garden catalogues.

How to wean your garden off its oil dependency- Step 1: Fertilizers

Happy New Calendar Year to everyone! I work in a school, so for me the year 'ends' in June and starts again in September... It also ends in the fall and starts again in the spring... It's an endless cycle of endings and beginnings, and odd spaces in between. This liminal time of the year is when I like to dream about my spring garden (and try to stay away from garden seed catalogues. Danger, Will Robinson!).

Growing your own veggies and herbs not only ensures that you have the best quality and highest nutrition, it can also reduce your impact on the environment. If you want to take that to the next level then you need to wean your garden off of its dependency on oil. The next level is barely a short step, and not hard at all to do.

Most commercial fertilizers are made from oil (natural gas in the case of nitrogen), or with the use of oil or coal in their production. In the end it's all the same chemicals (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), but where the chemicals come from, and what pollution is left behind in creating them, matters.

Alternatives for gift-giving

It's that season again for people who celebrate Christmas or participate in gift-giving traditions around the time of the solstice... I've been trying for the last seven or eight years to make sure that I support local artisans and stores, especially independent bookstores. Christmas markets and bazaars are one good place to look, but if you want to shop online, sometimes that can be hard to do. Etsy is one obvious place to go looking, but there are other avenues as well.

Just recently my friends and I have been soliciting our friends to post what they make or sell on our timelines. It's a bit of free advertising. I lucked out and got something nice for my daughter. She doesn't read this so I can safely say that she's going to LOVE the crocheted mermaid tail blanket. It's exactly the colours she loves. Score!

I've made a short list of places below for your information and for the sake of interest: