This year we decided to dye with only vegetables and spices instead of buying boxes of chemicals. Not only was it cheaper but we can also eat the left over veggies! Of course there is the added benefit of these dyes being safer than chemical tablets and it was a great science experiment. This served as a learning experience for myself as I eventually want to naturally dye our sheep wool/yarn.
First we start with hard boiling our duck eggs from our neighbors, White Clover Farm.
We only used 3 different colorants: red cabbage, beets, and turmeric.
Here is what we used for each jar:
Blue: 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage Pink: 1/4 cup shredded beets Yellow: 1 tablespoon turmeric Green: 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage + 1 teaspoon turmeric
To each of these I added 1.5 teaspoons vinegar and 3/4 cup boiling water. I let these steep for about an hour and let them cool. ( Went and fed the animals at the McClung Family farm & picked up some yummy cinnamon rolls from Bergey’s Breadbasket). I then added the eggs to the jars and topped them off with water to cover. I did not remove the veggies.
I let these sit overnight. In the morning, we removed and rinsed the eggs. Here are our finished eggs:
The turmeric made a bright yellow. I was really happy with our green! I think for the blue I will add more cabbage next time and let sit longer. Our pink came out more a muted purple. Everything was speckled from the veggies in the glasses. I am pleased with the results!
Happy Spring & Happy Easter from Roses Ridge Farm!
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