Vibrant Acres Colour Farm is a small sustaintable farm for growing and harvesting natural colours from plants. This spring, my husband Calvin, and I will be trading our bustling downtown balcony garden for four acres of rolling farmland in the beautiful Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. From a fairly rough patch of land, we intend to create a beautiful garden overflowing with flowers and plants with which we can make stunning colours.
Creating vibrant colour from plants combines our deep love for craft with our desire to connect with the land. The dye process requires slowing down, selecting plants, sourcing water, creating a colour bath, waiting while the goods are dyed, and hanging them on a line to dry. It is a whole process that brings with it layers of history, meaning, and connection with the local region.
Visit the Vibrant Acres website
Read our story and learn about our small farm.
An aerial view of our house, barn, and land. This photo only shows about one third of the field, but it is mainly grass surrounded by a thin patch of woodland. It is about 10 km from the sea and if you go up over the mountain, you are met by rocky beaches, coastal grasses, and the highest tides in the world. (photo: ReHome Inspections)
One of our favourite things about growing and harvesting plant-based colour is the beautiful cycle that is created. Nature provides the materials and, once used, they all go back into the garden soil where life begins again. Designing a garden of colours offers endless creative possibilities!
We tend to gravitate toward vibrant colours and soft neutrals. We are especially interested in selecting dye sources which are the most light-fast (the colour lasts well when exposed to sunlight) and colour-fast (the colour last well when washed), and that offer the most versatile range of colours.
Foraging tansies from a meadow at dusk. Just as we have a local food movement, natural dyes offer a step toward creating a local textile movement. Whether they be used to sustainably dye yarns, threads, fabrics, knit goods, and hand-crafted artisanal textile, or to overdye existing clothing and linens to give them new life, the opportunities are endless.