The Indigo from the Woad Plants in Faial

Woad plants in November, nestled in Bordaleira wool. Sometimes we use wool as mulch.

The color of the extraction liquid before we make the conversion to Indigo.

The color transformation from reddish brown to green, before it becomes Blue.

Finished Indigo extraction.

Indigo extracted from Woad from the Faial island in the Azores.

Flowering woad plant.

With all the time I have been devoting to Japanese Indigo, I have to admit that I had not the time to pay proper attention to Woad. And without true attention, I hadn’t been able to get anything interesting from it until now. Yearly, I grow indigo in large quantities and only a dozen or so woad plants, that I use to learn about their growing habits, do some experiments and grow fresh seed for the following year.
Last November the japanese indigo season was over so I had some time to approach Woad and finally extract some proper indigo from it.
These Isatis tinctoria plants are special because they came from the Azores, where once there was a true woad industry. More specifically, they came from the Faial island and although my work is not very devoted to the historical aspects, I feel happy that once again indigo was produced from this historical woad.
To be fair I have to admit that it was Japanese Indigo’s generosity that allowed me to freely and intensely experiment in the last years, enough for me to be able to aproach woad and be successful.
To celebrate my new found affection for Woad, this season’s postcards, that we usually offer with our shop orders and workshops, feature a botanical illustration of the little magical plant.
At the farm the same plants are already flowering and will be giving us the seed for next year.