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Hi I’m Jackie, and in addition to being an Herbal Rev team member, I’m also a fiber artist and natural dyer. I use plants to dye yarns and fibers and, from time to time, offer workshops on the chemistry of natural dyes. Something really cool about medicinal herbs is that they are also useful dye plants.
I will make a disclaimer here that I try to consider the highest power of a plant before I choose it as a dye plant. Some herbs like St. John’s Wort or Chamomile for example, are a source of color but are also a precious source of medicine and the harvest is so tedious that it makes more sense for it to be used medicinally. The colors from St. John’s Wort and Chamomile, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, can be made from other plant materials that are not as useful as medicine. So, while there is cross over, I always make sure that there isn’t a better use of a plant besides color.
That being said, there are plenty of plants that are prevalent and abundant enough for both medicine making and color. Some of my favorites are Nettle, Comfrey, Rhubarb leaves, Mint, Goldenrod, Rosemary and Mullein. All of these plants will give colors in the yellow-olive green range. There are also byproducts of Fire Cider production that I’m always keeping an eye out for, such as onion skins and turmeric.
Dyeing is a science and there are necessary steps in order to be successful at it. In a nutshell, most natural dyes require a pre step called a mordant in order for the color to stick and be colorfast. A mordant is always metallic in nature, and it works like a magnet, the mordant sticks to the fiber and the color sticks to the mordant. The most common mordant is Alum, and it comes in a powdered form that dissolves easily. To mordant, the first step is to weigh your fibers. This is called the Weight of Goods (WOG).
If you are dyeing a skein of yarn that weighs 100g, that is the number you will work off of. The amount of mordant I use is 12% based on the WOG. So, for our 100g skein, I need 12g of Alum. This is easy to scale up or down. If I were to dye 10 skeins of yarn, (WOG 1000g) I would still use 12%, which comes to 120g of alum. I also use Cream of Tartar in my mordant recipe, at half the amount of the Alum. So, whatever the Alum comes out to be, use half that amount of Cream of Tartar. The job of Cream of Tartar in the process of dyeing wool is to keep it nice and soft. If you don’t have any, don’t worry about it, just proceed with the Alum.
Getting Started:
Add your Alum to a big pot of water and stir to dissolve. Then, add your fibers and bring the heat up slowly to 180 degrees. I like to let the yarn cool overnight, but a couple of hours is sufficient. Once fibers are mordanted they can be stored to dye later, so I usually mordant a large amount of fibers so I can get right to dyeing when I encounter some juicy plants.
The general rule of dyeing with fresh plant material is100% of the WOG. But, this is very loose and I hardly ever weigh my fresh plants unless it is something I am trying to replicate.
To dye with fresh plants, harvest a good armful and add them to a big pot of water. You can chop them up if they are large, like mullein or comfrey leaves. You are basically making a big decoction, so bring them up to a simmer and hold for an hour or two. You could add the yarn at this point and cook it all together, or you could strain off the plant material and add the yarn to the resulting dye liquor.
Once the yarn is in the dyepot, bring the temperature up to 180. Once it gets to temp, you could leave it in there to cool, which will deepen the color, or you could remove it. There will still be color in the dyepot at this point and if you have more mordanted fiber, you could add it to create a range of shades in the same colorway. When you are done dyeing, rinse the fibers gently and allow to air dry. Let us know if you try natural dyeing with herbs!
About the Writer: When she's not working at Herbal Rev, Jackie can be found gathering dye plants and dyeing yarn, and offering a workshop from time to time. Follow her dyepots on instagram @forage_color.
To celebrate Women’s History Month (and International Women’s Day) we’d like to introduce you to our fabulous team… with a QUIZ!!!
Our 3rd Celebration Drop is the Spring Cleaning Kit!
“When I formulate, products are created to stand on their own, but it's also important to me that I'm creating products that can support, compliment and be used together. Our Spring Cleaning Kit is a perfect example of this. This kit helps support the body’s transition from late winter into the early weeks of spring. This is naturally a time when our body starts to crave lighter foods with bitter and mineral-rich flavors, which naturally supports the functions of the liver, gallbladder and other parts of the digestive system.”
- Kathi Langelier
Our products can be enjoyed at any time, day or night. But, if you’re looking for recommendations or don’t know where to start, here are some suggestions:
In the evening, brew a french press of Mother Lovin’ tea and let it steep overnight. In the morning, fill up your thermos or water bottle with tea, room temp or iced, to enjoy all day long. (This herbal blend can be steeped for as little as 5 minutes but it loves a long steep, which helps draw out beneficial constituents. Brewing in a french press allows for this process to occur with little to no effort!)
Rev up your digestive system with a shot of our Digestive Tonic, taken in 8 oz of water if you have a sensitive stomach.
Before and/or after a rich meal or when your body is needing some extra support, take one dropperful of Go With Your Gut Detox + Digest Elixir.
I'm so excited to be making this special batch of our Chocolate Love EliXXXir for you all. I created this formula over 15 years ago and it's still one of the team’s and my favorites to this day. When I created this blend, I created it with the goal of supporting people and their relationship to sensuality through all stages of life.
(New to the Rest + Reset? Check out the Intro, Part One, Part Two and Part Three)
Give our 21 Day Rest + Reset a try and see what a difference a solid sleep and immunity routine can make! 21 days can be a magical number in creating new routines that stick.
Sleep is such an important part of our cycle. It’s a time when our bodies can heal and restore themselves. If we don’t get enough sleep there are a host of issues that can arise, such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, high blood pressure, and lowered immune response just to name a few.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting our 21 Day Rest + Reset right here on our website AND on social media. This practice, developed by esteemed Herbalist, Kathi Langelier, is meant to help you refresh your sleep and daily routines for optimal rest and wellness over a 3 week period. Although we’ll be releasing this 4-part series over the next few weeks, feel free to follow along at your own pace. Save the posts for future reference and come back to it whenever you want!
Click on these links to follow us on Instagram or Facebook!
How’s it going?! Hopefully you’re starting to notice some shifts, maybe you’re waking up feeling more refreshed and alert, ready to take on the day or maybe you’re noticing you have less stress and anxiety. But maybe you’re still not feeling much….this is also normal. It can take time for our bodies to reset and undo patterns that we’ve had for years, so hang in there.
(New to the Rest + Reset? Check out the Intro and Part One)
Give our 21 Day Rest + Reset a try and see what a difference a solid sleep and immunity routine can make! 21 days can be a magical number in creating new routines that stick.
Sleep is such an important part of our cycle. It’s a time when our bodies can heal and restore themselves. If we don’t get enough sleep there are a host of issues that can arise, such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, high blood pressure, and lowered immune response just to name a few.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting our 21 Day Rest + Reset right here on our website AND on social media. This practice, developed by esteemed Herbalist, Kathi Langelier, is meant to help you refresh your sleep and daily routines for optimal rest and wellness over a 3 week period. Although we’ll be releasing this 5-part series over the next few weeks, feel free to follow along at your own pace. Save the posts for future reference and come back to it whenever you want!
Click on these links to follow us on Instagram or Facebook!
Give our 21 Day Rest + Reset a try and see what a difference a solid sleep and immunity routine can make! 21 days can be a magical number in creating new routines that stick.
Sleep is such an important part of our cycle. It’s a time when our bodies can heal and restore themselves. If we don’t get enough sleep there are a host of issues that can arise, such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, high blood pressure, and lowered immune response just to name a few.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting our 21 Day Rest + Reset right here on our website AND on social media. This practice, developed by esteemed Herbalist, Kathi Langelier, is meant to help you refresh your sleep and daily routines for optimal rest and wellness over a 3 week period. Although we’ll be releasing this 4-part series over the next few weeks, feel free to follow along at your own pace. Save the posts for future reference and come back to it whenever you want!
Click on these links to follow us on Instagram or Facebook!
If you are feeling you need more support you can add the Go To Bed Elixir. Take a dropperful after dinner and then again half an hour before bed.
It's best to take the elixir straight into the mouth, but it can be added to a small amount of water or Goodnight Moon tea.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting our 21 Day Rest + Reset right here on our website AND on social media. This practice, developed by esteemed Herbalist, Kathi Langelier, is meant to help you refresh your sleep and daily routines for optimal rest and wellness over a 3 week period. Although we’ll be releasing this 5-part series over the next few weeks, feel free to follow along at your own pace. Save the posts for future reference and come back to it whenever you want!
From the Herbal Revolution Newsletter - 1.7.25
"These early days in January, as I take my morning walks around the farm with Lita, I’ve been thinking about how 2025 marks my 15th year of running Herbal Revolution. On our walk, I can see visions of the past 15 years. Seeing the ones that have come to fruition and the ones that still exist in my dreams. I can see past seasons, past plant bed rows, past gardens and plants, and all the amazing people who have been part of the Herbal Rev team. I have gratitude for it all.
I can also see all of you!
I’m so grateful for all the support that Herbal Revolution has received over the years. Some of you have been here since the beginning and others are just discovering us today, wherever you are in your journey with Herbal Rev, thank you for being a part of this business and herbal community!
Fifteen years ago, I started this mighty little business. It was 2010. I was working three different jobs and hustling Herbal Revolution at farmers markets, events and doing cold calls to stores in my free time. I was living in a log cabin in Lincolnville Maine, growing a 1+ acre garden on my neighbors’ land and wild harvesting in magical places around the state of Maine.
At this point in my life, I had been doing outdoor education, farming and working with plant medicine for close to 15 years. I was deeply connected and committed to working with the land and wanted to have a greater impact on my community. I wanted to work with people around health self-reliance with the support of bio-regional plant medicine.
From this passion came, Herbal Revolution.
In my personal life, I was dealing with low immune response as a result of chronic Lyme disease. So, I decided to make myself two different mushroom blends to support my immune system. One blend for the cold and flu season and another to support my body year round. These formulas had a profound effect on me and later went on to become Herbal Revolution’s well loved, Elderberry + Mushroom and Roots Elixir and Mushroom + Roots Elixir, two of my favorites still to this day.
Mushroom medicine is a mystical process. A process that I took my time with and took years to learn and cultivate. Back then, I was foraging all the mushrooms, gathering them, preparing them, cooking them for hours/days on a wood stove. Tasting them. Blending them and creating with them. Thinking back to this time leaves me feeling mystical, magical and beautiful. All the ingredients I needed at the time to start a business.
As I look to the path behind me with reverence and gratitude, I look ahead with ease and grace to what the future holds. I’ve begun to settle into honoring my feelings for change. Over the next year, I plan to take time to nurture the metamorphosis and vision of the next chapter for Herbal Revolution.
How will this affect you? Not much really. We just ask that you stay curious with us as we explore new label looks, new logos and new products and ideas. As a small farm and business, we still need your support to keep us going. We LOVE making farm to bottle, whole-plant medicine for all of you and want to make sure we can continue to do that. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
In the meantime, Herbal Revolution will not only continue to do business as usual supplying you with all your herbal needs, we also plan to Celebrate! That’s right, it’s time to celebrate this little business and all of you!!...over the entire 2025 year!
Over the course of the next 12 months we will be celebrating each month of 2025 with something new and special. These special monthly drops will include: small batch herbal products, new label designs, blogs and stories of the last 15 years, collaborations with other bad ass businesses, and in-person and online workshops.
To start the Celebrations off, I’m offering an in-person White Pine Medicine workshop on January 18th in Union and be sure to check out this Thursday’s newsletter, where we will be dropping a new, small-batch release!
Thank you all so much for supporting this farm to bottle herbal business.
Wishing you all a safe, healthy and abundant 2025!"
xo Kathi
To stay informed on all of the upcoming Celebratory Drops this year, we invite you to sign up for our weekly Newsletter!
Who says new habits need to wait until January 1st? If you’re looking to kick off the New Year with a mocktail in hand, we have you covered with four delicious herbal beverages.
