Indigo Sugar Experiments

After reading about the experiments of Catharine Ellis here

I was inspired to do some playing of my own

But I was reluctant to use food I could eat

so I found my source in the scrap/compost bin

I used

Banana Skins

Orange peel

Carrot Peel 

& Sweet Potato Peel

All were treated the same way

Brought to boil and simmered 30 mins

Then plant matter removed 

 liquid reduced by half

Removed from heat

 allowed to cool a little

1 teaspoon indigo and a little meths in a jar

Swirl to dissolve

Add cooled juice

(it still wants to be quite warm)

And 2 teaspoons lime

Shake jar vigorously and place in the sun

Jars in the Sun

The fabrics used

1. knitted linen, beige

2. Knitted cotton, white

3. Silk Cotton Blend, pale green

Banana Skins

while they worked they were not wildly successful

Carrot Peel

Much Better

Orange Peel

on a par with the carrot 

Orange Sweet Potato Peel

This dropped right off in the last test

I don't know if this is inherent to the material

or whether it was a slightly cooler day 

and this was the largest jar

and just didn't get warm enough

or possibly there wasn't as much peel to begin with

Maybe it needs to be repeated 

with exactly the same weight 

of plant material to begin with

But someone else can do that

I will definitely find a place in my freezer

for a few peelings 

of carrot, orange and sweet potato

to feed future indigo pots

and forego trying to find 

the fructose

I also hope to continue the experiments

once I have a vegie garden happening

with a glut

But I do wonder how capsicum cores would go

and would purple carrot skins make a difference?

More indigo play here 

x te