"The harvest heals. It gives a sense of that wealth that only a stack of garlic or a pile of firewood or manure can represent..." --Stanley Crawford, from "A Garlic Testament".

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I'm a fiber artist who dyes and spins wool (and other natural fibers) into yarn. I just wanted to let you know that this year I purchased and planted your Cosmos (Bright Lights) seeds, and yesterday I successfully dyed some wool with the flower heads.

I think this will make a lovely yarn, and hopefully it'll blend with some wool I dyed with Goldenrod from our yard last week. I am an awful gardener but this plant was very easy to grow and very prolific. I hope you will be offering it again next year, because this reddish color is normally pretty hard to achieve with other dye plants.

I try to use dyeing methods that are least harmful to nature; I mordant only with alum and cream of tartar (common kitchen ingredients) and then, with the Cosmos flowers, I added a bit of baking soda to bring out the red.

I am on my third batch of wool using this dye - it is still really vibrant, and has dyed a much greater quantity of fibers than I anticipated. I hope it will be long-lasting on the finished yarn.

There are a number of other plants which you sell that can be used as natural dye sources; Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, Calendula, Coreopsis, St. John's Wort, Yarrow, and Mullein are some of the ones I know you offer. This Cosmos is great for beginners as it is both easy to grow, and easy to dye with.

Thanks for your great service and great catalog. I look forward to it every year. It is a miracle that anything survives my black thumb, but I like to keep trying. I'm much better with wool -- my handspun yarn took Third Place at the 2001 Wisconsin State Fair. :-)

Best wishes, Stasia Wussow, Colgate, WI

To learn more about Stasia's dyeing process and to see more pictures of her yarns go to: http://home.earthlink.net/~jeffnstasia/dye2.htm

Dear Editor,

Your interview with Frances Moore Lappé is so illumining. Like a lot of us activists, it's unlearning our initial cheerleading stance to see hope in a new way -- as a process that brings progress to our lives, isn't it? Like the Buddha who fasted and went on 'austerity binges', it's his learning to unlearn that led him to the realization that the Middle Way is what illumines (thus to enjoy good food too : ). It's inevitable to veer to one side first (either right or left) then learn to unlearn in order to be liberated & illumined... Wow, what a neat interview as she also revealed her own struggles & insights with you. Great job!

Sunamita Lim, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Ode to Weeds, by Shirley Weismann

Dear Editor,

I couldn't agree more with Shirley. I am in the process of deadheading a bull thistle so as not to infest my neighborhood. I have allowed this beautiful weed to grow in my rose garden since last fall. I wasn't too sure what it would look like at maturity due to the fact that I couldn't find a picture of a full grown example. I identified it in weed books that I have, but none showed it at full maturity. The leaves were just too interesting to cut down. So grow it did! From rosette until this day as I remove dying flower heads, I have shown off, and bragged about this weed as if it were a new baby. It grew to around 6 feet tall with profuse beautiful purple flowers. I am collecting the seeds in hopes of maybe growing some in the future! I know that sounds crazy, but it really was a sight to see. Imagine what a creative hedge this plant would make to keep out unwanted visitors! So three cheers for the weeds in our gardens!

Lisa Solomon, East Northport, New York

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