One day, summer seemed to end without warning.
At Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋）, we finally harvested the second-cut Japanese indigo and made precipitated indigo, indigo paste and dried indigo cakes, work that had been postponed during the extreme heat.
After the first harvest, the plants were fed and allowed to regrow. By early autumn, they had become large enough for the final harvest of the year.
The yearly sequence from sowing to the first and second harvests is introduced in our Japanese-language article How to grow Japanese indigo: sowing, raising seedlings, planting out and harvesting.
The Tokushima Prefectural Government also introduces the second harvest of indigo regrown after the first cutting on its official About indigo page.
Harvesting and sun-drying the second-cut indigo
Part of the harvested indigo was spread in a sunny, well-ventilated place so that the moisture could gradually leave the leaves.
Because overlapping leaves dry unevenly, we turned and loosened them from time to time.
The dried leaves will be stored for later dyeing trials and dye preparation. The drying process is described in our Japanese-language article Lye fermentation vat ①: sun-drying indigo leaves in preparation for making sukumo.
▼ Sun-drying the harvested second-cut Japanese indigo
Making precipitated indigo from the second harvest
Another portion of the second-cut indigo was used fresh for making precipitated indigo.
The leaves were steeped in water to release their colour-bearing compounds. Lime was then added, and the liquid was agitated so that the blue pigment would form and settle.
At Hitotsuya, the wet precipitate is called precipitated indigo; after more water is removed, the paste-like material is called indigo paste; and after further drying, it becomes a dried indigo cake.
Our detailed method is explained in the Japanese-language article How to make precipitated indigo, indigo paste and dried indigo cakes.
▼ Making precipitated indigo from the second-cut leaves
The year’s indigo work draws to a close
With this work complete, the year’s indigo work is nearly finished.
From spring sowing and raising seedlings to planting out, the first harvest, the second harvest, drying the leaves and preparing precipitated indigo, another full season with indigo has passed.
Only the late-autumn seed harvest remains, using the plants that were left uncut for seed production.
We worked hard through another fiercely hot summer 😃