INDIGO Natural Dyeing
The future of art
is rooted in the soil
From carbon to color
Going back to our roots
We expand the possibilities,
creating a sustainable foundation for the world of color and art.
At Blue Footed Donkey Farm, we are constantly educating ourselves and our community on how to use MOTHER NATURE’s gifts in different ways. By exploring different ways to use materials, we expand the possibilities that were given us while creating a sustainable foundation for development in the world of color and art.
Sustainability, climate change, our relationship with the Earth and those we share it with are the defining issues of our generation and those to come. This acute awareness is what drives our efforts to develop systems of production that are driven by a synergy between nature and science.
From Carbon to Color
Did you know that putting more carbon into the soil results in an abundance of natural plant dyes?
Indigo, one of the earliest natural colours, has finally come full circle. From its rich ancient history to its unfortunate role in colonial exploitation, it has finally been restored as a symbol of sustainability and empowerment.
We grow a full spectrum of dye plants rich in pigments that are then turned into water colours paints, oil paints, pastels, dye for fabric, crayons, and smiles.
Going back to our roots.
We like to farm old school and we want to making farming cool again 🙂
For us, indigo is also symbolic of our human history operating in a symbiotic relationship with the earth.
Blue Footed Donkey Farm’s Indigo project will be the first Indigo plantation in the Azores since the 16th century.
We are proud to bring the blue back in these green hills. Indigofera tinctoria is one variety of indigo bearing plant we grow.
This indigo species is one of many in the fabaceae family with symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules.
Legumes play a key role in crop rotation, they fix nitrogen in the soil, help prevent the loss of precious soil through erosions, provide high yields with value, and can create a sustainable pure pigment with many uses for good.