HERB - woad musings

[Sheron Buchele/Curtis Rowland]

Gosh Eoin, the belly laugh I got from your missive makes me want to
question your sources frequently!  *grin*

I needed a good laugh!  Thank you!

An note about growing woad:  the best color comes from the first season
leaves (known as the rosette) according to my sources.  Then dig the
suckers out and compost them.  They only put on flowers and seeds the
second year.  If you do this, you will never spread the "Evil Satan
Worshiping Woad" anywhere.  Also woad is said to deplete soil so moving it
from year to year is a good idea.

It is extremely easy to grow from seed as it is in the same family as
mustard, cabbage, brusselsprouts, etc.  We started the little guys under
growlights and they were vigourous little tykes.  If I ever do it again, I
will direct seed.

Now as to getting any dye out of it, I worked for what seemed like forever
and got nothing but blue green.  I can't seem to get the plant stuff out of
the dye stuff.  A nice color but not what we wanted.

By the way, I have certainly enjoyed this exploration into the halls of
woad.  I think these kinds of discussions that send us all skurrying to our
books and through our memories are some of the best of the best of the
discussion lists.

All the best,
Leonora the snowed in and loving it!


At 09:43 AM 3/26/01 -0600, you wrote:
>
>Deductively, I now conclude from the decided _lack_ of mention of any such
>active properties, that woad is in fact more-or-less inert.  If it were
>otherwise, we would see blue-painted counter-culturists running amok
>everywhere, and loads of information concerning how to grow, process, and
>use the stuff in this manner.  Also, there would undoubtedly be a
>reactionary, "Ban The Evil Woad Before Your Child Starts Worshipping Satan"
>group, bent on stamping the plant out, as their moral imperative.
>
>I hereby RETRACT all mention of woad as a psychoactive and APOLOGIZE for
>disseminating misinformation.
>
>In re the noxious weed reference however, depending upon where you live,
>you might be liable for prosecution for growing woad.  In the U.S., federal
>laws mandate up to $5000 and up to a year in prison per violation of the
>Noxious Weeds Act.  Finding a federal _list_ of weeds that are considered
>noxious is a bit of an undertaking.  Once located (by telephone call to the
>USDA), I find that woad is not on that federal list.
>
>Before you plant woad, do check your local, regional (state/province) (and
>national government regulations if not in the U.S.).  Some U.S.counties
>regulate woad, as do many states (Wyoming, for instance) .  Other locales
>do not regulate it.  In any and all cases, ecological and biological
>morality would be to assume that the plant, if not native, should never be
>allowed to get out into the wild.  Limit the damage to your local ecology;
>keep the stuff in check.
>
>So, grow lots of woad in your gardens.  Seems to be harmless enough stuff.
>Let me know if other information comes up refuting this refutation.
>
>--
>Eoin Caimbeul
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>

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