August was already drawing to a close. The plants in the Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋） Textile Farm, which we began in spring 2014 to grow species connected with dyeing and weaving, had survived the intense summer heat and were continuing to grow.
Here is a closer look at the dye plants and fibre plants growing in this very small experimental garden.
Dye and fibre plants in summer 2014
▼ Japanese indigo, the main crop
First is Japanese indigo, known in Japan as tade-ai. This year we finally succeeded in dyeing with our own precipitated indigo, made by extracting and settling the blue pigment from the harvested leaves.
▼ Indian indigo grown from seed
This is Indian indigo. It was raised from seed and has grown remarkably large.
▼ Turmeric, slow to emerge but now growing well
The turmeric took a long time to send up shoots, but it is now growing steadily.
▼ Variegated kariyasu for a clear yellow dye
This is variegated kariyasu, a Japanese grass traditionally used for dyeing. It produces the beautiful clear yellow known in Japan as kariyasu-iro.
▼ Japanese madder, now increasingly scarce
This is Japanese madder, a native madder plant that has become difficult to find in recent years.
▼ Coleus ‘Redhead’ for an anthocyanin experiment
This is the coleus cultivar ‘Redhead’. We plan to see whether anthocyanin pigments can be extracted from its vivid red-purple leaves.
Finding plants that are difficult to buy
We are also growing fennel, lemongrass, mint and other herbs, selecting plants that can be used for natural dyeing.
Assembling this collection was not easy. Many plants used in dyeing and textile work are unusual and are rarely sold as seedlings or seeds in ordinary garden centres or home-improvement stores.
We mainly searched for them online. When a species was still unavailable, we sometimes collected it ourselves.
▼ Wild-collected Japanese knotweed
This Japanese knotweed was collected locally. We had previously used it to dye cloth a brown with a purplish cast.
▼ Ramie collected for textile fibre
This ramie was also collected rather than purchased. Unlike the other plants, it is not being grown for dye: the fibre is taken from its stems and made into yarn and cloth.
Like Nausicaä’s experimental garden
Since spring, this small farm has gradually filled with plants for colour, plants for fibre and plants whose possibilities we still want to test.
With so many unfamiliar species gathered together for observation and experiment, it has begun to feel like the hidden plant laboratory in Studio Ghibli’s animated film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
When the weather becomes cooler, we plan to add autumn-sown dye plants such as dyer’s coreopsis and woad.
It is a very, very small farm, but tending these plants, observing them and connecting them with dyeing and weaving is a source of endless enjoyment.