Now that spring is here, it’s an extra good reason to make lavender cleaning vinegar. Because ordinary cleaning products are often bad for the environment and unnecessary. Unfortunately, the smell of vinegar is very typical. I wonder how long it takes for lavender to dispel this smell of vinegar. Surprisingly, it goes very quickly.
Sustainable gifts are not only more fun – especially when you make them yourself – but also good for the environment. Giving presents for the holidays, a birthday, a newborn or a wedding can be much more environmentally friendly. That is why I give you 16 Tips to make or buy sustainable gifts.
Naturally dyed slippers, that was the aim. But thats quite a specialist job. Especially if you want to dye brighter shades. Now I now it is true. You can really dye bright and vivid colours.
Sustainable slippers that are also warm. That is comfortable and good for the environment because the heating can just be a degree lower. But what actually makes slippers sustainable?
Natural dye from the elderberry would give a nice lilac even without mordant. The colour variation from lilac to purple is interesting enough for me to try it as a natural dye for my sheep wool. The elderberry, Sambucus nigra, happens to have plenty of berries at the moment. I show you how I made the natural dye.
After shooting 50 species of flowers on and around our lavender farm in March and April, I continue here with the wildflowers in the Alpujarras in May.
In France, lavender flowers from mid-June to mid-July. This is when large fields of mostly lavandin bloom. But did you know that true lavender – Lavandula angustifolia – often flowers already from May? My lavender garden is at 1200 metres in Andalusia, Spain, and here the lavender is already in bloom. I can imagine that lower down the lavender blooms even earlier. Flowering season has started!
Last spring, four lavender plants had aphids. I didn’t take it too seriously and that wasn’t a good idea. Within a short time, the plants were covered in aphids and ants were coming and going. The plants looked worse and worse. I knew they would survive, but I could forget about harvesting these plants for the time being.
I am going to wash raw wool to test the quality as felting wool. Maybe for the last time because I hope to have a large batch of sheep wool washed soon. Over the past 2 years I have gained a lot of experience in washing raw wool. While washing this small batch I tell you about my experiences.
After the first step of washing and carding discarded sheep’s wool in my neighbourhood in small amounts, I am now entering a new phase. Will I succeed in washing and carding the wool of an entire flock of sheep? The long road to putting sheep’s wool back into use.
