Invasion of the Vetch Heads

Allyson's semester is finally over! She is finishing up some grading and doing her annual report. We are really excited that she is finally getting a real summer break! YAY! We are looking ahead not behind for certain. We acknowledge that this year has had a few bumps in the road but we are using this summer to  take time to recuperate, branch out, spend time with family and friends, spend time in nature, and finish a final draft of our long awaited book.

Today we noticed that "hairy vetch" a plant related to the pea is infiltrating our alleyway behind the fence. We noticed earlier that there were some plants seeded in the garden.  Recently we read in a dye book that you could get a "yellow green" from the purple flowers of the vetch. So today we collected about 4oz of vetch and turned it into an ink. It is probably a highly fugative and not light stable ink. It is a pretty green color, different than most green inks we have seen in the vegetable realm. We both agree that the Nettles and Irises produces a nicer "plant based" green and they are a little more lightfast. We also planted most of our cover seed and flowers today. We are really excited about the end of spring and the beginning of summer! Again we have some awesome things happening in the garden and new projects with our book.  Exciting Times!!! We will keep everyone updated as things start to grow and projects start to unfold.

XO A&J