Dye plants

Plant dyeing is a craft that uses roots, flowers, fruits, grasses and other natural raw materials to produce colours of a special quality. Plants are a natural raw material which can be found almost anywhere around us and are easy to process. Roots, stems, leaves, skin or peel and nuts are prepared accordingly to give either a rich or a soft colour. The result is natural pigments that can then be used in a whole host of different ways. Open Air Museum demonstrations also present recipes people have been using for centuries to help shape, protect and embellish their daily life at home – as is the case for many of Hessenpark’s historic timber-framed houses. As a result, the demonstrations also draw on the buildings and gardens that fill the grounds of the Open Air Museum.