Towers of tiny pale yellow flowers sway in the wind, the air thrumming with scores of pollinators. At the base of each spike, the clusters of flowers have already been replaced by seeds; it's these seeds that hold this plant's secret.
This is weld, a plant that has been used by humans for thousands of years to impart a vibrant yellow colour to fibres. From colouring the robes of the Roman Vestal Virgins to helping produce the green clothes worn by Robin Hood's band, weld has played a key role in the fabrics of our past.
For a growing community of natural dyers across the UK, plants like weld also have an important role in the future of dyeing.
In a quiet valley in Devon I find Sophie Holt, founder of Pigment Organic Dyes. Pigment is one of five 'microenterprises' based on a corner of a 60-hectare farm, surrounded by low hills filled with the chatter of birds and the myriad shades of ancient woodland. Sophie is harvesting crackerjack marigolds, their yellow and orange heads bursting with layers of overlapping petals. "They always remind me of Indian weddings," she says with a smile, explaining that the flowers will dye fibres a beautiful mustard colour.
As she plucks flowerheads and places them in harvesting crates, I ask her how she got started in horticulture.
"I began helping social enterprises and charities with their marketing, and through that discovered care farming," she explains, telling me how care farms provide therapeutic services for people with learning disabilities or mental-health issues alongside food growing. "I thought, instead of doing a market-garden care farm where we're growing veg, I could grow dye plants; I recognised there were very few UK-grown dye plants on the market." Following a successful pilot last winter, Sophie's vision is now in action.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.
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Amid pastures farmed by her family for more than four centuries, Mary Quicke is reviving forgotten dairy traditions to produce delicious Devon cheeses
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As science proves the many health-boosting benefits of eating at least 30 different plants each week, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shares recipes to help you meet the magic target
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Thanks to dedicated conservation work, this impressive but vulnerable arachnid is resurgent in East Anglia
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GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE
Would this protected status bring welcome recognition and attention - or overcrowding and problems for farmers?
Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?
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Pumpkin patches
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