Growin' color 🌱
What I'm planting this year as a fiber artist who moved to the "city"
Ahh March…
My favorite part about Midwest living is the change of seasons. And my favorite transition is winter to spring. It sounds cliché, but it brings the type of energy you can just feel in the air.
We moved into our house in May of last year and spent the following months focused on interior restorations, leaving our small yard untouched and… lacking. This will be my first year working with a city lot, and we have not yet set up any raised beds or gardening plots so I’m kinda winging it.
I’ve mapped out a (conservative) list of everything I’d like to grow this year to set me up for success on my 2026 One Year One Outfit project without going overboard.
What I’m planting:
Flax → Linen
This is my third year participating in the Rustbelt Linen Project. This time, I plan on processing and spinning it into yarn that I can crochet with. Maybe with wood handles (like pic 2)!?
Japanese Indigo → Blue dye
Obtained from Dogwood Dyer. I’m really excited to experiment with blues!
French Marigold → Yellow-orange dye
A companion for my tomatoes, but I’ll use it to add a little sunshine to my wardrobe too.
Coreopsis → Rusty red dye
I have a vision for a bell-sleeve mini dress with red and white stripes. I’ll probably try to recreate the stitches in the first pic with the stripes in the second.
Right now, we’re in our annual “false” spring in Ohio, when the weather hits 70 degrees F for a week or so then drops down to below freezing until actual spring. Without fail, it gets my hopes up and puts me in a warm weather frenzy, year after year. I’m trying really hard to take advantage, while keeping a level head.