THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

maryb

Thank you - I need to do some googling

GreyQueen

Quick question for you natural dyers etc. A dear pal has expressed a wish to grow some woad plants on Plot2 of mine. I know nothing about its growth habits, is it one of those invasive things which rampage all over the place or could it be tucked up a corner and left to mind its business until needed?

I'm taking five between t'office and pedalling up to the plots, haven't seen them since Friday and missing them already. I don't usually feel like turning out after work but will end up feeling much healthier for a bit of sun and chilly breeze than I will if stewing indoors.

Witless

GreyQueen wrote: »

.... is it one of those invasive things which rampage all over the place or could it be tucked up a corner and left to mind its business until needed?

I know even less than you, but ...

Controlling Woad Plant Weeds
For those of you who wouldn’t think of cultivating woad and just want to get rid of the darn things, there are both chemical and non-chemical controls.

Non-chemical methods of eradication include hand pulling, which since the tap root is so deep, is quite difficult. Also, revisit the woad site every couple of weeks, as the plant readily self-sows and can do so for many years. You can mow it for a very temporary control, or try some goats on it.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/woad-plant/woad-plant-care.htm

Witless

... not to labour the point ...

Invasive and noxious weed
In certain locations, the plant is classified as a non-native and invasive weed. It is listed as a noxious weed by the agriculture departments of several states in the western United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.[30][31] In Montana, it has been the target of an extensive, and largely successful, eradication attempt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isatis_tinctoria

DigForVictory

One Historian pal "manages" woad by growing it in a sunken bathtub. She regards that (and the civilian equivalent of napalm - I have not asked for details but fire and salt are Only Two of her several ingredients) as being a reasonable price to pay for the colour without being drowned in the "herb".

It's more aggressively Houdini than mint.
I must ask if she's tried Goats... As a fibre fiend, likely yes, but as a woad control method - well, I will enjoy hearing her laugh.

Madder, lady's bedstraw, tansy & yarrow might be grown deliberately, but (Hallelujah) chamomile, comfrey, fennel, feverfew, lavender, marjoram, rosemary, sage & Even stinging nettles may already be available to you.

TBH GQ, I'd say "No!" sweetly but decisively & offer her all the stinging nettles she can carry as you sort the new plot.

If folk want to dye naturally, let them grown their own. Madder takes about 6 years to get hefty enough to crop & even bedstraw is better for at last 2 so it's more an "I wonder if that heaving abundance of Q will make an interesting colour" rather than cultivating unless you have a lot of space, time & reputation riding.

(What me, hang out with research historians who also spin, dye & even breed specific animals? Yep. Son got several metres of beautiful tablet woven braid (the sort you sometimes find on etsy at around £30 a metre) for correctly identifying woad, madder & (luckily) guessing Jacob - all depends which way your curiosity pulls!)

[Deleted User]

Don't grow it GQ 'ticularly on the lottie.....'tis the woad to wuin!!!!!

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Don't grow it GQ 'ticularly on the lottie.....'tis the woad to wuin!!!!!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Too funny, thank you all for your input, I shall advise pal that I have hot & cold running horsetails, nettles, brambles, bindweeds (both kinds) and thus have more than enough Troubles of the vegetative nature without woad.

If she really wants some, she has a pocket-hankie garden of her very own.

Been on the plots, mild evening with some exciting skies. I adore clouds and the lottie is near the top of a slope and I can see for, oh, at least a mile in most directions.

Mightn't impress those who live in mountainous regions, but I spend my days hemmed in by buildings, so it's pretty pleasing to me.

Judging by my workload today, The Public have spent the long weekend fly-tipping, blasting 'music' and arguing with their neighbours. Plus ca change, plus sa meme chose, as they say down the chipshop.

Bring me tea!

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

'tis the woad to wuin!!!!!

You sound like Barry Kripke.

[Deleted User]

Bless you, Gezuntide!!!

maryb

Apparently a Council tip lorry emptied its load all down the street in a "Millionaire's Row" in London this week according to the Daily Wail. Intrigued because the news report referred to Bromley (the borough in which I live, though it's the largest borough in London so encompasses many different areas) I looked it up.

It's a very suburban road of detached houses, many of them Tudorbethan in John Betjeman's graphic description. But, yes, because this is a fairly leafy London suburb, these house probably do command an asking price in excess of £1m

Whether the market takes any notice of that command is a moot point.
I want doesn't get and prices do seem to be falling