Organic Dye and Organic Roses

Oct 04, 2014 Apr 07, 2015

This was not a sight of interest, but something I am privileged to experience, as I am travelling with my WWOOF hosts. On my off day, I tagged along with them and had some unique experience!

Organic Dye
My hosts came to know about a lady who specialized in organic dyes, and my hosts were curious about the processes of organic dyes. Using raw materials (such as tree roots, leaves, barks, etc.) a spectrum of colours can possibly be extracted. The process of organic dye is fairly complicated, I’ll attempt to explain with my limited knowledge.

First, you will need to extract the colour from the raw material, using various methods like cooking, or fermentation. Second, it will be a repetitive cycle of dye and dry; you will need to dye the textile multiple times to ensure the colour is locked in and the colour doesn’t run when you wash. After every dye, the textile will be hang out to dry thoroughly before the next dye. It sounded simple but the whole process might take up to months, no joke yeah? The profound science of organic dye takes a lot of knowledge, trial and error, as well as patience. Knowledge to share: white coloured textiles are all processed, these textiles were all bleached. Hello Chemicals =(

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Organic Roses (Lohas Rose 玫開四度)
They are one of the pioneers in Taiwan that planted edible roses; perhaps the need to be edible explained the reason for organic roses. They researched and developed a range of roses related products, e.g. roses jam, roses tea, and roses skin care products. The owners, a kind couple, walked me through their farm and collection of cactus.

It was late afternoon as we spent our time, the sun started to sets in, I enjoyed the view that emerged; the clear blue sky slowly blended in with orangish sun rays and created a beautiful gradient across the horizon. As I behold this sight, I overheard the conversations of my hosts and the roses farmers; I concluded from their conversation that organic farmers are real fighters for their belief, the path might be a tough and lonely but thankfully they created a community where they can seek for support and strength.