Early Summer on the dye farm

It’s the end of the June and the flowers are just starting to bloom here on the dye farm. The bees are loving the flowers, especially the cosmos this year. All those hours spent in the greenhouse have started to pay off. It seems so long ago we were waiting patiently for the daylight hours to be long enough to start sowing the seeds for this year’s crops (14th February is our start date by the way). We spend many a day sowing seeds, watering and potting on the little seedlings. It’s such a happy time of year for me as the greenhouse gives me a real sense of calm when I’m working in there - something about the simple task of sowing seeds and starting new life. They say that gardening is good for your mental health and I completely agree. In the summer, it’s too hot in the greenhouse (plus everything is already planted out) and in the Winter it’s too cold, so Spring really is the best time to enjoy it.

Here comes natural colour!

First to flower here on the studio EVIG farm this year was our Cosmos Sulphureus - giving beautiful prints using eco-printing methods and gorgeous bright oranges from an immersion dye bath, this little flower really does pack a punch. We’re hoping there will be a few of these beauties featuring in our Eco-Print workshop in mid-July,

Waiting patiently…

The coreopsis seems to have been in bud stage forever! It’s a real labour of love growing natural colour as it teaches us to be patient (not something either of us are particularly good at!). We’d love to be making our eco-print linen napkins that we’re so excited to share with you but we’re still waiting for the coreopsis flowers to bloom! So, as soon as they do, we’ll be harvesting them every day and pressing as many as possible (plus using them fresh) to create our limited linen range for this year (and of course making more of our popular eco print scarves). In the meantime we’ll carry on harvesting cosmos, marigolds, scabious and dahlias!

Looking forward

Over the summer months of July, August and September, the farm will be in full bloom (a little bit like this photo from last year) and we cannot wait. Although it is a constant task to keep up with harvesting and drying the flowers, it’s essential if we want natural colour in the winter months.

Stephy and I are working hard at the moment on a new range of linen napkins and cannot wait to share them with you. If you want to keep up-to-date with our latest news, do sign up to our newsletter. Also, if you’re looking for a fun new skill to learn we’re offering a fun eco-printing workshop in July.

Love, Claire