Japanese Indigo
I have two raised bed planters on the deck. Last year I grew herbs, scallions, celery, tomatoes and chard very successfully. I also grew indigo in a pot. Right nearby. I moved the pot onto the planter later in the season. Somehow some seeds found a home there. Ha! I usually start the indigo indoors. I have some waiting for warmer days, but these are already strong and ready to go. I had no idea they would reseed here.
Shelter
Food
My brother, the one in Idaho, the botanist, sent me many seeds, many kinds of mustard greens. All labeled neatly in little packets. I planted all kinds, in rows in the other deck planter. And I used the little packets, skewered with toothpicks, to label each row. It rained hard the next day. The ink washed away. Only the papers remained like little flags that seemed to ask why do you assume anything is permanent?
i recently discovered that safflower blossoms dye things, including food, bright orange. Maybe that’s why it’s called American saffron. I got some seeds, which sprouted readily. I’m excited, also because the plant is reputed to have healing properties.
I would very much like to grow some indigo. There is a Hawaiian indigo, which grows here but is not very strong. I wonder where Japanese indigo seeds would be obtainable. Is it difficult to grow?
I am loving the new layers of your stitching and thoughts. Thank you.
New Mexico is much on my mind these days … your basket appearing as sun over mesa, splashing light on desert sand
Love those rows and the baby indigo! You’ve reminded me, my grandfather wrote his labels with grease pens leftover from the days they had the grocery store. They didn’t rinse away with water but could be rubbed off. A kind of magic.
a rather grand version of impermanence!
I’m wondering how much food I really need to grow, so many small farms up here.
More focus will be on sustaining this natural environment I think. Letting it be ok. And dye plants. Considering chickens but so many coyotes…
I’ve read research that for true sustainability we really to need focus on supporting small local farmers and tt’s really important to grow natives or things that will feed the birds and beneficial insects. Chickens…I am done after the two I have. They are fun to have but I am tired of predators and pests.
love that couched spiral at the base of your basket self in Shelter & your indigo seedlings are looking very pleased with themselves!l
a little magic!
That indigo is very perky
I was so surprised today to see a young artichoke seedling in my garden. Must have self-seeded! I wasn’t going to plant them this year. Thinking about you thinking about cloth integration and straying.
Last year, everything that grew in the garden came up on its own because I was using it as a compost when I first moved here.
spending time. a valuable currency. rich communication. love how you weave directly into the cloth. the many becoming one. and yeah, the impermanence of things is sooooo freeeeeing! x
Yes. Sewing is weaving.
Impermanence can quite confusung too.
Your basket in this one reminds me of Lakota and Tibetan rugs/weavings. So beautiful!
I like that can be something like that, but yet not.
I am planting finally today. We have been having temperature swings every three days and seedlings just do not seem to enjoy 28 degree nights. Perennials are waking up well and my cherry trees and black currant are in full bloom. Bees so happy with more than dandelions these days and the birds are delighted with their new bird bath. Funny robins are taking cedar mulch chips for their nest building. Spring in the Rockies is so wonderfully surprising every day.
Loved your post today……the seedlings all look fantastic and one day they will let you know who they are.
I’m also really watching what simply grows here. Learning.
Your post lightens my heart 🌞💚
That’s nice to know
To just travel along, doing things that speak to us. To be okay in the not knowing. xo
Yeah, floating.
Something without a name…or as my old friend Carol said, beyond the beyond. The source of all being.
and then, continuing
Cool about the indigo… growing season is here!
yes, still quite cool but so many plants love the in between as a beginning.
i had the very same seed problem only I planted mine at ground level. things are coming up after the deluge but I have no idea what they are – in a jumble except for one row. I used the seed packets themselves so they remain tho I doubt with any accuracy at this point. Meanwhile I’ve found that american honeysuckle grows if you break it off and stick it in dirt – no rootone, no anything. I have 15 plants happily growing in a nursery pot and no idea what I’ll do with them. I think artists love gardens because they are both full of surprises….finally, I understand about making to sell and just making. These days I am just making. Every time I think about selling again I remember 85% selling 15% making – in the corners and tidbits of leftover time.
Honey suckle grows wild here. Hard to manage, rampant.
Time , of course, become an issue, over time. ha!
Honeysuckle grows wild here, too, and our state conservation department begs people to do whatever they can to eradicate it. It sucks the life right out of a forest if left alone.
Yes, garlic mustard is also a problem here.
this isn’t the Japanese imported yellow stuff, it’s native to America, orange, and hummingbirds love it
I have both.
Just loved this one xxxxx
Just loved this one Jude xxoo
love is good!
This speaks strongly to me, “I have become so much aware of how generating work to sell or show keep me from the depth of detail I love. And also now there are thoughts about integration as a symbol, which I will simply think about today. Try to catch my thoughts. I have strayed from something without a name. What if I could get back?”
Hey! How are you? have sat quietly in the deep night, listening to myself closely. Mostly because My aching bones wake me. But it is a good use of my time.
I love self seeding surprises! I have to remember to be careful when I weed, you never know what forgotten treasure might emerge.
the thing is learning to identify things at such an early stage. The second leaves are usually a clue. Although some just scream, “it’s me!”