rhubarb pie – no, dye
April 11, 2020
we all know what rhubarb looks like
but the root is rather surprising
a large, very solid lump
when cut it is beautiful
with strong colour and almost rings like in tree trunks
April’s dye challenge uses it on wool, silk and cotton
gives the a very strong colour – but not orange as one might expect
using an alum mordant on the handspun wool and silk
and tannin and alum on the cotton
the silk and cotton have a very greenish tone
in the neighborhood…
the municipal sign people have been very creative
much better than cutting down the tree
and now I’m off to dig in the veggie garden
24 Comments
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I don’t use a mordant with rhubarb root on wool at all and get a really nice warm yellow. The sweater I knit still smells faintly of the sweet dyebath years later. I dig my plants in the fall every 3 years or so and replant the best crowns in lots of compost and topdress the plants with manure every spring. The roots for dye get chopped up before they dry or they become very hard! Currently my rhubarb plants are about 45 years old and just about ready to harvest the first stems of the season. Looking forward to enjoying the sauce on my breakfast!
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Hi Louisa – in Jan. I mordanted enough wool, silk and cotton to dye my monthly challenge for a few months. I always mordant with alum even for those materials that it is not necessary, personally think it gives a better colour. My rhubarb plants are approx. 25 years old and I’ve had one small harvest, the new small shoots are so-o much more tasty before they really start to grow – wonderful in yogurt.
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Hey, Jean! Mordants can shift the colour in different directions and with some dyes I like the unmordanted colour better! I’m planning to pick some of my rhubarb today. Looking forward to having my first taste of the season!
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Louisa – rhubarb on the porridge this morning, just came in from watering. I love this weather but it is going to be a long, hot summer if we don’t get some rain.
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Love that sign! I only planted my rhubarb 3 years ago – it is too young to have spread fa and too precious to be dug up for dye. I love the colour though.
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Sue – I freeze the rhubarb to use in the winter – great on porridge and in yogurt but also give some away in the summer. Only harvest a root once in 5-6 years, the colour is very strong and not my favorite.
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I am looking forward to having enough to freeze because I love it too. I am not sure when / if I will ever get around to dyeing but I love the idea.
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Sue -just eat it and enjoy.
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I will.
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Sue – 🙂
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I love that pruning.
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Dawn – it’s great isn’t it?
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I love that greenish gold colour, it reminds me of the colour of new oak leaves in the spring. Northern hemisphere, that is. No oak trees here, no new spring leaves…
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Kate – not my favorite side of the colour wheel. I live in the municipality of Oak Bay, lots of oak trees, they are just starting to leaf out.
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Ahhh…. gentle envy 🙂 I think the memory of a spring in the south of England is one of the few things that makes me nostalgic for my native land.
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Kate – Spring in Victoria means cherry blossoms everywhere, magnolias and bluebells. The tourist industry used to advertise Victoria as the city of gardens.
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Lovely!
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Kate – Happy Easter 🙂
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Beautiful roots! My rhubarb plant is very feeble and insipid, maybe it needs a new location…or maybe it is telling me that it wants to be used a dye?
I love the recessed street sign!
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Kjerstin – rhubarb likes lots of compost, sun and water. Mine are over 20 years old, they spread out and form new clumps. I can give you one if you want, let me know I’ll leave it at the front yard.
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On Gardener’s question time they said that you should water rhubarb as much as possible, even in a wet climate.
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Dawn – it likes a top dressing of compost also.
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oh, yes, of course. I was surprised that they told someone living in Ireland that they should water their rhubarb even when it’s rained, because that’s where most people fail. I
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Dawn – yes, I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, about as far west as you can go in Canada without falling into the Pacific Ocean, frequently known as the “Wet Coast!
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