It snuck up on me but my blog has now had over 20,000 visiters since August 2011. Even if you count half of the visitors as spambots I am happy with at least 10,000 folks interested in natural dyes. So, thank you for sharing the color journey!
To stay on the natural dye track here’s some shots of my indigo garden prep. One bed for the Japanese Indigo, the second for Indigofera suffruticosa.
The sprouts strengthen 
And the beds are prepped! This is last year’s Indigofera suffruticosa with some new growth.
And the sheltered Japanese Indigo bed is ready for its seedlings. 
I am also going to direct sow some seed to see if that works better. Seeds are scarce so one wants to figure out the most efficient path.
debmcclintock 
Looking forward to the growth progression. I started some from Ricketts and forgot hem for a week and they are now dead dead dead!
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Congratulations on 20K … may it inspire you to keep on keepin’ on
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I decided to grow my own indigo and woad this year – due to your inspiration, no less! I’ve had great yields on my woad, but absolutely none of my indigo has sprouted. Are there some tricks to getting indigo to germinate? I used peat pods with a seed mat and grow light. Note I live in Austin – so we share the same climate.
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I use seed starter dirt. I also take my seed trays outside during the day to warm the seeds. I do bring them in at night to protect them from frogs and raccoons digging for frogs. When I prep to plant the seeds I soak the seeds overnight in almost boiling water to soften the starch in the seed casing. I don’t use a grow light as my terrace and screen porch get sun at different angles. As the sprouts grow I do rotate the seed trays to keep them from collapsing in one direction. Good luck!
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Deb, have you grown I. tinctoria, and does it do as well in the Hill Country as your I. suffruticosa? I’ve only been able to find seeds for Japanese Indigo and Indigo tinctoria; I’ll be sowing the tinctoria as I would any legume, but am uncertain as to whether it will do as well as your suffruticosa. I’m in New Braunfels, BTW.
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Up until last year all I grew was Japanese Indigo. I use drip irrigation and plant my seedlings around the drip hole on the irrigation line. As long as you water JI, you are fine. During the drought I was only running the drip irrigation 3 times a week and it lived. I did sneak it more water upon occasion. Good luck with it.
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Congratulations on 20 000 visitors and fingers crossed for your indigo success this season!
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