Final report for FNE22-020
Project Information
This project seeks to build capacity within Baltimore’s farming community to supply an emerging market—natural dyes—with sufficient quantity and quality of raw material—natural dye plants—to effectively position Baltimore as a leader in the natural dye industry.
Considering our limited capacity, the project surpassed 2022 projected harvest goals. A major Project outcome of improved income or profitability and increased employment & labor opportunities for participating farms was met. Additionally Nature's Colors actively expanded the collective knowledge base within the region’s farming community through practices of farmer to farmer, networking, mentoring, and technical assistance was met. We also were able to successfully collect and and are currently processing seeds for the 2023 growing season.
We anticipate progress in crop production and/or production efficiency. In 2022, crop production saw a 140% increase of our goal of 400 raw pounds of plant matter. In 2023, we can anticipate more than 400% increase of this current goal because of increased farmer knowledge and skills. We successfully built up skilled Natural dye farmers with our two-day training and ongoing troubleshooting support.
This project seeks to build capacity within Baltimore’s farming community to supply an emerging market—natural dyes—with sufficient quantity and quality of raw material—natural dye plants—to effectively position Baltimore as a leader in the natural dye industry.
Objectives include:
- Recruit six (6) urban farms in Baltimore City to seed, grow, and harvest select natural dye crops.
- Host a comprehensive, two-day training for participating farmers on history of natural dyes and cultivation techniques specific to natural dye crops.
- Provide participating farmers with ongoing support throughout the season to troubleshoot production issues.
- Collect and process seeds for the next growing season (2023).
- Harvest 400 pounds of raw material (wet weight).
- Host one-on-one listening sessions with participating farmers; collate findings and publish insights/recommendations to inform replication and expansion efforts in the future.
Baltimore is a city where neighborhoods are largely segregated, to the detriment of its citizens of color. Black residents account for 71.5% of Baltimore’s population living in poverty; most reside in the city’s most economically distressed neighborhoods where over 30% of households earn less than $25K/year. These same neighborhoods have fewer businesses per resident, higher unemployment rates, more individuals receiving government assistance, and lower education levels (Deloitte & Datawheel). If not addressed, Baltimore will continue to experience uninterrupted cycles of race-based, place-based, generational poverty plaguing its communities. Nature’s Colors is an opportunity to disrupt this cycle by linking the emerging market of natural dyes and one of Baltimore’s notable assets—urban farms—as a means of shaping Baltimore as the national leader in the natural dye market with a complete “raw material to consumer” supply chain for natural dyes. When successful, Nature’s Colors will serve as a catalyst that sparks positive economic development across multiple sectors in Baltimore City.
In response to consumers’ growing interest in product sustainability, producers are increasingly sourcing natural dyes for textiles, cosmetics, and food. Currently, the U.S. makes up but a fraction of the global natural dyes market, but analysts estimate the U.S. market share to be worth $1.47B by 2026. The greatest growth is expected to occur in the southern U.S. where climate and regional growing conditions are highly amenable to natural dye crops (Arizton Advisory & Intelligence). Baltimore City is home to over 20 urban farms (Baltimore City Office of Sustainability) comprising various models ranging from commercial ventures and farm collectives to community and experimental projects, making it ideally situated to serve as a growing and processing hub for natural dyes. This potential was recognized in 2019 with the launch of the Baltimore Natural Dye Initiative (BNDI), a collaboration of diverse stakeholders interested in exploring the cultural and economic impacts of growing and using natural dyes in the Baltimore region.
As a direct output of BNDI, Nature’s Colors is now stretching beyond the “idea” phase of enterprise growth. However, before fully taking shape and entering the “grow” and “scale” stages, Nature’s Colors must ensure the region has the capacity to produce and harvest the natural dye crops comprising the first link in the natural dye market value chain. The first step in developing this capacity is to expand the collective knowledge base within the region’s farming community through education and training. As Baltimore farmers gain knowledge and experience in growing natural dye crops, they will gain access to new market opportunities where there is demand for natural dyes (e.g., textiles, beauty, and food/consumables). By expanding their skillset to include natural dye crop production, farmers will effectively diversify their revenue sources and increase profitability. As farm operations grow and scale, there will be a positive ripple effect throughout multiple sectors. Not only will farms seek to hire additional farm crew members (based on evidence from previous growing seasons, Nature’s Colors is likely to create eight to ten new farming jobs annually), but natural dye processors and end-users within the textile, beauty, and food/consumable markets will also experience economic boosts as well, spurring additional employment opportunities within these industries, too.
Although Nature’s Colors is primarily an economic venture, the project is fundamentally rooted in promoting sustainable agriculture. Because the majority of natural dye plants are species native to the region, cultivating these crops benefits the local ecosystem and enhances the region’s resiliency and biodiversity (University of Maryland Extension). Growing dye plants locally means the crops can also be harvested and processed locally, thus simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint of Baltimore’s natural dye sector and increasing the industry’s self-reliance. Additionally, the project specifically recruits farmers with demonstrated commitment to sustainable farming practices, including but not limited to: regenerative agriculture, polyculture, native plantings, stewardship and forest preservation.
Blue Light Junction is an alternative color lab, natural dye garden & educational facility focusing on growing, processing and preserving the history of natural dyes and their enhancements and use in everyday objects. Located at 209 McAllister Street in Central Baltimore’s Greenmount West neighborhood and working in Hidden Harvest “annex” Farm, Blue Light Junction is an independently run studio that began in January 2020 as a supporting physical space for stewarding the "annex" dye garden. The "annex" dye garden operates as a teaching and demonstration garden. We work with full time urban farms in the greater Baltimore region to grow natural dye plants cooperatively through Nature's Colors Initiative. Once harvested and processed at Blue Light Junction, we produce goods for the natural dye market including wholesale of seeds, dried pigment and dye material. Through Blue Light Junction and Nature's Color's Initiative we are working to build direct to consumer value added goods such as pigments and paints, products produced utilizing natural dye with local designer and makers in the beauty and bath industry.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
Research
- Recruited six (6) urban farms in Baltimore City to seed, grow, and harvest select natural dye crops. Farms were selected based on interest and experience, and recruited through existing farming networks in Baltimore City, including Farm Alliance of Baltimore City. (Due to the fact that Nature’s Colors has been evolving since 2018, many Baltimore-based growers are already familiar with the project and are known to Kenya.) Participating farmers were briefed on their responsibilities as growers (including which crops they will be growing and the expected output) as well as their stipend for participating in the project. Crops selected for this project included calendula, hibiscus, indigo, licorice root, madder root, marigold, marshmallow root, sulfur cosmos, and safflower.
- Hosted a comprehensive, two-day training for participating farmers on history of natural dyes and cultivation techniques specific to natural dye crops. Educational activities were scheduled as appropriate throughout the season to correspond with the varying cultivation techniques needed throughout the season. The training included food and drink, and was held at Blue Light Junction. The breakdown of training completed are as follows.
- Training Day 1: Farmers learned the history, cultural origins and relevance of natural dye plants, as well as gained an understanding as to where the current market for natural dyes exists, and how and why natural dyes are relevant to Baltimore City. Farmers had the opportunity to learn what it takes to cultivate each crop from seed to harvest and select which crops they are interested in growing for the season.
- Training Day 2: Farmers learned how to seed and germinate their selected natural dye crops. All participants received an instructional packet (as both electronic and hard copy) about the plants they chose to grow (crop cycle from seed to harvest, as well as a schedule of when each plant is ready to harvest), notebooks for data collection. (Farmers were required to collect and report the data specified in attachment “NCI Farmer Data”, which was aggregated and analyzed to identify best practices for growing healthy natural dye crops in the Baltimore region. Blue Light Junction Project support staff helped collect, manage, and analyze data. Farmers chose the specific plants they wanted to grow and seeds were distributed to Sharps At Waterford farm to start seedlings. Seedlings were distributed to farmers between May - June of 2022. Farmers also had the opportunity to dye fabric with marigolds and indigo grown and processed from the previous season's harvest.
- Provided participating farmers with ongoing support throughout the season to troubleshoot production issues. The Nature’s Colors team—consisting of lead Kenya Miles conducted biweekly check-ins with participating farmers throughout the 2022 growing season.
- Harvested over 500 pounds of raw material (wet weight). Beginning in June, participating farmers began harvesting the natural dye crops for processing. Aside from those harvested for their roots (which will require more than one growing season before harvest), most of the natural dye plants were harvested for their leaves or blooms. The crops were weighed at the time of harvest as “wet weight” and recorded as part of the farmers’ data log (see attachment “NCI Farmer Data”). Farmers were only required to harvest and deliver their harvest to the designated processing facility; the drying and processing steps are beyond the scope of this project, and were managed by Blue Light Junction as the next step in the “raw materials to consumer” supply chain.
- Collected and processed seeds for the next growing season (2023). Several farmers were trained in how to collect, dry, and store seeds from their natural dye crops. Although drying methods may vary according to crop, all seeds have been stored in light-blocking containers with silica gel to better ensure their viability and germination in 2023. Seeds have been primarily used for the 2023 growing season. Two hundred (200) indigo seed packets were sold to whole sale dyers while the remaining seeds are available for purchase as an additional revenue generating opportunity.
- Hosted one-on-one listening sessions with participating farmers; collated findings and are working in 2023 to publish insights/recommendations to inform replication and expansion efforts in the future. At the close of the 2022 season, the Nature’s Colors team met one-on-one with participating farmers to review the season and gather feedback regarding farmers’ experiences, lessons learned, etc. Feedback and input was consolidated into a formal document and presented to farmers to work to formalize and greater enrich the cooperative. Because each of the farmers’ experience was unique as defined by their choice of natural dye crop, number of square feet and staff dedicated to natural dye project, etc., many questions were unique to each farm. The team used data points collected throughout the season (see attachment, “NCI Farmer Data”) to guide initial conversation regarding their experience collecting data, to help inform future stages of the project.
As this is an ongoing project with many layers, partners, and participants we can only speak to the work the Nature's Colors project continues to build on which predates and includes support from SARE. The ways in which we collected data from farmers during our 2021 growing season continued into the 2022 growing season. With input during the season as well as with post season interviews from farmers we have greater understanding at the ways in which the data inputs could better serve the farmers working practices as well as overall information required for funding expectations. Initially we were collecting monthly photos of the farms and plants as well as logs of the plants, health, watering, temperature, pests and fertilizers. While this information is important to acknowledge we understand that is offers greater significance to farmers within the network of natural dye growers and is less important for funding needs or overall data inputs for the project history. Blue Light Junction serves as the processing studio for plants. We worked to gather harvest collection data including plant type, harvest dates, wet weight of plants, ways in which the plant was dried or processed, processor, and once completed the dry weight of plants. As the we increased the number of farms we worked with in the 2022 growing season we also saw a great need for more wet and dry storage at Blue Light Junction as well as the ability allow farmers the possibility of drying plants on their farms to minimize harvest drops.
We are looking to maintain and grow our relationships with the farmers who participated in the 2022 Nature's Colors Project. Growing in cooperation with a manageable number of farms as well as plants will help to stream line the project, build routines, support, and checks and balances in managing work loads and capacity. We are hoping to remove barriers that complicate the project on the back end, with forms, data collection, invoices, or scheduling so that we are able to better support and offer ease for the farmers specifically at the height of the growing season. Nature's Colors project plants to fine tune our training and educational materials in advance of the 2023 season. Additionally, we want to provide support that farmers asked for in one-on-one interviews. The desired interventions will require more funding for pre-season support including helping farms purchase tools, admin support, support staff for supervisor, and coordinating monthly farmer meet ups.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Consultations
From April 15 2022 to November 15, 2022 we conducted biweekly check-ins with participating farmers 110 times and 7 end of season Farmer interviews.
Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
Nature's Colors created one farmer training instructional packet in April 2022 to instruct and support farmers during a two day training as well as throughout the growing season. The packet includes plants farmers choose to grow, plant identification crop, cycle from seed to harvest, as well as a schedule of when each plant is ready to harvest.
On-farm demonstrations
In April 2022, Nature's Colors hosted a dye workshop for the farmers on Day 2 of the Farmer Training. In June 2022 we supported a dye demonstration/event at Bliss Meadows Backyard Basecamp with Indigo. In September 2022, Kenya Miles hosted a field day at Blue Light Junction with Farm Alliance of Baltimore.
Workshop / field days
22 training days & Harvest Field Days
Over the course of the 2022 growing season, Nature's Colors supported farms in 1-2 Indigo harvest per farm (as Indigo should be harvested twice during the season) as well as harvesting cosmos and marigolds to support and train farmers on harvest practices. Additionally several Nature's Colors supported farmers in collecting Indigo seeds for the coming seasons and as a value added good.
The following is a details list of workshop/field days:
•2 indigo harvests with Farm Alliance, 1 Indigo Seed collection
•2 indigo harvest with Bliss Meadows, 2 Indigo Seed collection
•2 Cosmo harvest, 2 marigold harvest
•2 indigo harvest with Strength of Love, 2 Indigo Seed collection
•2 Indigo harvest Parks & People, 2 Indigo seed collection
•1 indigo harvest Whitelock Community Farm / 2 Marigold harvest collection
Number of farmers/ranchers who participated in education and outreach activities
Many of the farmers that Nature's Colors worked with this season have a strong network and community support in maintaining and furthering their farms. We were excited to see the impact each farm/farmer made within their neighborhoods and beyond in sharing the Nature's Colors project. The following is a details list of participating farmers (x34):
•Bliss Farmers x1
•STL2 Farmers x3
•Farm Alliance Farmers x12 (10 BBUFA Trainees, x2 farmers)
•Park Heights Farmers x3
•Parks and People Farmers x2
•Whitelock Farmers x5 (1 Farmer + 4 Volunteers)
•The Greener Garden Farmers x6 (3 Farmers,3 Assistants)
Number of agricultural educator or service providers reached through education and outreach activities
Over the course of the 2022 season Nature's Colors project worked alongside several organizations to connect the work of cultivating natural dye plants. We worked with The Farm Alliance of Baltimore directly on their farm (as a participating farm) as well as with their 2022 BBUFA training group. Nature's Colors project also worked with Great Kids Farm (Baltimore City's educational farm and outpost) to share the project with several student groups.
Learning Outcomes
In November/December of 2022, Nature's Colors conducted interviews with farmers post season to inquire and understand better the impact of growing natural dye plants on their farm as well as to give feed back on the structure of the project. Below are a listing of experiences and insights the farmers offered during their interviews as well as direct quotes:
- Farmers reported an increase in awareness of the extent of labor needed for each plant.
- Farmers reported an increase in knowledge of how to care for plants in extreme heat.
- Farmers reported an increase in awareness of environmental conditions that cause pests and how much labor and monitoring it takes to prevent pests.
- Farmers reported an increase in knowledge that there was another purpose of growing other than growing edible crops.
- Farmers reported an increase in awareness of the experience of the beauty and fragrance of flowers, in addition to the product value.
- “When I was stressed out I would just go there and smell them and relax and I would string them up and it was relaxing.”
- “Indigo was something for me. I took a lot of joy in growing it. What the plant quickly taught me is the more you leave me alone the better off I would be.”
- Farmers reported an increase in the awareness of plant spacing and staking.
- Farmers reported an increase in the awareness of ancestry.
Project Outcomes
During the 2022 growing season, Nature's Colors project encountered many moments of insight and growth within the support and supervisory areas/roles as well as new and returning farmers. Below are three areas where we found growth and shifts in farmer knowledge and growing practices:
- Improved income or profitability, Improved market opportunities, Increased employment & labor opportunities
- Expand the collective knowledge base within the region’s farming community through practices of farmer to farmer, networking, mentoring, and technical assistance
- Improved landscape diversity/ecological services
The below information expands on the above areas:
- Improved income or profitability, Improved market opportunities, Increased employment & labor opportunities
Strength to Love 2: “For us it was a highly beneficial thing, our ability to utilize the space for land rental brought revenue to the farm. the training of farmers to grow other crops was highly beneficial as well.”
Whitelock: “The NCI allowed us to grow dye and utilize land that was not being used.”
Farm Alliance: “we had 10 trainees going through the black butterfly urban farmer academy. participants have to complete 144 training hours as part of their learning so I am introducing them to a variety of farming practices including crops that are different.”
- Expand the collective knowledge base within the region’s farming community through practices of farmer to farmer, networking, mentoring, and technical assistance
Parks and People, Inc: “I enjoyed volunteering at different farms to help out, interacting with other farmers, seeing different operations, sharing experiences with other growers. It’s nice as a beginner farmer to grow in community with other farmers. It’s been on brand from learning soil based farming and being encouraged if I made any mistakes. Great confidence booster and learning platform.”
Parks and People: “This project has impacted relationships of farmers growing together and the relationship of farmers understanding different plants as well as the opportunity to create the space for farmers to build the community together.”
- Improved landscape diversity/ecological services
Whitlock: “It brought beautiful flowers to the neighborhood, attracted pollinators to crops, and was a teaching tool for St. Francis Neighborhood Center Garden Club.
The approach and methodology of Nature's Colors project over the last two seasons (2021-2022) has been one of inquiry, research, reflection, experiencing and adjusting based on lessons and communicating with participating farmers and other project supporters.
We found success in the following areas:
- Recruiting farmers with demonstrated commitment to sustainable farming practices
- Two-day training to share knowledge and offer material support for growing natural dye plants
- People interested in acting as support staff to help collect, manage, and analyze data.
- Bi-weekly on farm check-ins
- Goal: To harvest 400 pounds of raw material (wet weight): Surpassed goal with over 600 pounds of fresh indigo and an estimate of 360 pounds of fresh Black Eyed susans, Sulfur cosmos, calendula, marigolds.
- Collecting and processing seeds for the next growing season (2023): calendula and cosmos, indigo
We found challenges in the following areas:
- Managing multiple farms and having clear communication around needs and expectations
- Selecting a diverse group of plants that farmers can grown reasonably (without feeling overwhelmed or losing sight of what is growing)
- Farmer data collection: Early questions we asked farmers were challenging as the season became more full. Data collected to directly support funding purposes was in conflict with the questions we were asking farmers and data we requested they input monthly.
- Project support staff to tend propagations until beginning of season: some plants died because of lack of specified project support staff
- Monthly farmer conversations: To connect around support needs and to discuss work on each farm leading to stronger community support, knowledge sharing and connection
- Invoicing specifics and deadlines were a challenge for farmers. A more detailed tutorial will be created for the next season, taking into account farmer feedback and requests.
- Transporting harvest, especially indigo.
- Supervisor overload, more staff is needed to do harvest, transport and troubleshoot with farmers. Supervisor time can be devoted to coordinating farmer conversations and trainings/demonstrations.
The following are lessons Farmer’s reported from the Nature's Colors project that will affect knowledge of natural dye farming in Baltimore City:
-Pest and Animal management
-Need for space, for plant matter to dry efficiently
- Anticipation of extreme weather
- Plant location, distinct to layout of specific farms
- Crops that they will grow again, based on labor requirements for plant, pests and animals on land and how well it grows on their specific land
- Support requests include: Tools and machines that assist with consistent bending, even more detailed plant maintenance handbook,
Can we build capacity within Baltimore’s farming community to supply an emerging market—natural dyes—with sufficient quantity and quality of raw material—natural dye plants—to effectively position Baltimore as a leader in the natural dye industry?
Yes, Considering our limited capacity, the project surpassed 2022 projected harvest goals. A major Project outcome of improved income or profitability and increased employment & labor opportunities for participating farms was met. Additionally Nature's Colors actively expanded the collective knowledge base within the region’s farming community through practices of farmer to farmer, networking, mentoring, and technical assistance was met. We also were able to successfully collect and and are currently processing seeds for the 2023 growing season.
We anticipate progress in crop production and/or production efficiency. In 2022, crop production saw a 140% increase of our goal of 400 raw pounds of plant matter. In 2023, we can anticipate more than 400% increase of this current goal because of increased farmer knowledge and skills. We successfully built up skilled Natural dye farmers with our two-day training and ongoing troubleshooting support.
We are looking to maintain and grow our relationships with the farmers who participated in the 2022 Nature's Colors Project. Growing in cooperation with a manageable number of farms as well as plants will help to stream line the project, build routines, support, and checks and balances in managing work loads and capacity.
We are hoping to remove barriers that complicate the project on the back end, with forms, data collection, invoices, or scheduling so that we are able to better support and offer ease for the farmers specifically at the height of the growing season. Nature's Colors project plants to fine tune our training and educational materials in advance of the 2023 season. Additionally, we want to provide support that farmers asked for in one-on-one interviews. The desired interventions will require more funding for pre-season support including helping farms purchase tools, admin support, support staff for supervisor, and coordinating monthly farmer meet ups.
Information Products
- Natures Colors Farmer Training Info April 2022 (Manual/Guide)