The Gardening part has now been covered. There are still a couple of spaces left for August, if you like to join the processing only part.
Woad 'Hands on' workshop - this is promising to be a really nice 2 day course. We are teaming up with Irish Seedsavers Association for this workshop combining a day of learning and planting with another day of harvesting, processing and dyeing.
I have recently been made aware of a fantastic Woad Seed strain, discovered in Tewkesbury on a cliff side by Professor Hill as a child in the 60's. He went to cultivate the plant and it has been passed around ever since. I am so delighted, that I managed to secure some Seeds to grow and save for this year. The Tewksbury strain promises more pigment and up to 5 possible harvests a year - let's put it to the test!
Basic Knowledge of Indigo or Plant dyeing of advantage, but not necessary.
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2 day workshop spread over two dates. Two possible groups of 10.
Down Payment option available, workshop payments can be broken down as follows:
Down Payment: 60Euros, 1st day 60Euros, 2nd Day 60Euros.
Day 1: both groups
Venue: Irish Seedsaver's Association
Date: Saturday 9th of April 2022
Time: 10am - 3pm
Meeting at Irish Seedsavers Association for a talk by Tristan on how to grow Woad from seed, planting, harvesting and the importance of how to save seed correctly, to ensure healthy future crops.
The meeting is followed by planting out young woad plants into the beds and a tour of Seedsaver's Gardens & Orchards.
Lunch Break - Please bring your own lunch cutlery and cup. Coffees, Tea, Milk and Oat milk are provided.
After Lunch we will continue to see the Dye House for a tour and a brief overview on how we will proceed with the harvest and dye extraction.
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Day 2 group of 10, 2 separate dates available.
Venue: Irish Seedsaver's Association/ AppleOak FibreWorks Dye House
Date: Saturday 2nd of July; Saturday 27th of August 2022
Time: 10am - 4pm
Meeting at Irish Seedsavers Association for harvesting Woad Crop
Travel to AppleOak Dye House to proceed with Woad leaf processing
We will cover:
- How to extract and dye with fresh Woad blue
- How to determine pigment strength
- How to extract and dry Woad pigment (theory only)
- Experimenting with other possible woad uses in natural dyeing
All materials are provided on both days. There is an option of choice of what you can dye: a pair of Wool socks or a silk scarf and you can bring a small item of natural material along too. I will contact you beforehand.
You will receive all notes and workshop info on the day, as well as recipes by pdf after the workshop.
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Covid and other Info:
- Own transport is necessary
- Classes are of 10 participants in the Dye house and 20 at Seedsavers (Class will go ahead with a minimum of 6 participants for each group or we will combine the group, should we not get enough participants.)
- Please do not come, if you are unwell, we can organize a refund.
- Mask wearing is optional
- Use of provided sanitizer at arrival optional
- Please bring your own lunch/cutlery and mug
- The shop will be open on both days after the tour & workshop.
For directions:
