Medieval colour

2019 brought ‘anything but gardening’ to Granton and many questions about the way colours were made in the past.

Now that almost a year has passed since I began making botanical prints and natural dyes at Granton’s lost medieval garden I hope to build on this knowledge and passion. Share techniques learned through demonstrations and events at the garden.

Plans include a tiny dyeplant garden to grow some of the historic plants used to make the colours red, yellow and blue…to begin with. Always mindful of the environment and continuing to develop low impact methods to make ecoprints and colour without causing pollution.

Sustainable practices like gathering rainwater to soak carefully harvested bark, berries, roots, flowers and leaves have provided the ingredients to make natural dyes and botanical prints. Waste wood to fuel the ‘magic’ rocket stove and a few old pots at Granton Castle Garden to transform donated cloth and paper into something inspiring and useful.

Spring is beginning to show signs of arriving in 2020 and I look forward to seeing the world with fresh eyes on my wanders foraging around the city greenspaces I love; gardens, parks and cycletracks.