Final report for SPDP23-021
Project Information
The project team developed and implemented trainings for 50 Service Providers and Mentor Farmers over 2 years to demonstrate to Limited Resource farmers how indigo (Indigofera suffruticosa) can be grown in the Lowcountry of coastal South Carolina and Georgia as a polyculture, interplanted with companion and heritage crops such as hemp (Cannbis sativa), sea island cotton (Gossypium barbadense), roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), and antioxidant-rich blueberries, elderberries, muscadines, and processed into indigo dye pigment with producer cooperatives.
Indigo grows sustainably in the region with no soil enhancement, chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and naturally builds soil nitrogen and organic matter while being resistant to salt and deer browse. The woody crops support pollinators, provide habitat for a variety of native wildlife, and offer a healthier alternative to toxic chemical dyes. The regional market for Lowcountry indigo is strong for sales of pigment, textiles, hands-on workshops, and is directly tied to its 18th century history as a cash crop and export commodity grown on plantations by enslaved people -- many from West African cultures with long and rich indigo dying traditions.
Coastal Gullah Geechee farm communities, whose unique culture is deeply connected to land acquired by ancestors after the Civil War, are seeking new strategies to address land loss, cultural decline, and sea level rise. Many are descendants of formerly enslaved ancestors who produced indigo. Trainings in Gullah communities on St. Helena and Sapelo Islands will enable Service Providers and Mentor Farmers to experience how: 1) indigo and companion crops offer potential income sources for farmers to pay high property taxes and retain family land, and: 2) producer cooperatives may tap into burgeoning markets for indigo in rapidly growing coastal communities (Charleston, Beaufort/Hilton Head/Savannah) where Gullah land is under threat.
The project team reached its objectives, which were designed to achieve the project goal of training 50 Service Providers and Mentor Farmers over two years to work with Limited Resource farmers in advancing regional production and processing of value added products from indigo as a companion crop for farmers interested in growing natural fiber for textiles (hemp, sea island cotton) and/or healthy high-antioxidant berries (blueberries, elderberries, muscadines) in coastal SC and GA.
- The project team, including trainers and farm hosts, planned and executed an effective two-year Service Provider and Mentor Farmer training program with a collaborative, diverse, multi-institutional project team. The curriculum and learning materials emphasized emerging value-chain opportunities for Limited Resource farmers in producing, processing, distribution and marketing Lowcountry indigo dye to meet regional demand.
- The team also developed and delivered a specialized curriculum for online training workshops and on-farm training workshops, including wider distribution of a farmer-focused how-to manual for indigo dye production in print (250 color booklets) and digital form (PDF). This book, Indigofera Suffruticosa: A Lowcountry-based Cultivation and Processing Guide was distributed to all project participants, along with natural dye kits, and his available for free in PDF form to anyone who requests a copy.
- The team demonstrated perennial companion food and fiber plants that are grown sustainably with indigo as "guilds" on coastal farms, and that can provide local farmers with additional revenue from the same acreage through the season and as value-added shelf-stable products.
- The team educated and inspired SP's to Limited Resource farmers in the region to grow indigo and companion plants on their farms, and develop shared facilities for processing plants into value-added products (indigo dye, fiber/yarn, juices/jams/frozen berries) in conjunction with community partners such as existing farmer cooperatives and rural business development organizations;
- The team assessed the potential for forming a Lowcountry Indigo Producer Cooperative, working with Clemson University's SC Center for Cooperative and Enterprise Development, and shared information with SPs about responsibilities, risks, and rewards for processing indigo plants into dye at central community-based facilities to supply dye pigment to the regional markets of Charleston, Beaufort/Hilton Head, and Savannah.
The Target Audience consisted of Service Providers (SPs) serving Limited Resource farmers in coastal communities of SC and GA, many of which are Gullah farmers facing chronic land loss due to high taxes, development pressure, and heirs property challenges. A number of SPs serve as staff and contractors with universities and nonprofit organizations, including: SC State University 1890 extension agents; University of GA 1862 - extension agents; GA State 1890 extension agents; Clemson University 1862 extension agents; municipal officials; and Mentor Farmers including farmers associated with Marshview Community Organic Farm, St. Helena Island, SC; Melanin & Magic farm in Abbeville, SC; High Hog Farm in Grayson, GA and the Saving Our Land Ourselves and the Cornelia Walker Bailey Program of Land and Agriculture on Sapelo Island, GA. Outreach and recruitment focused on reaching SPs and Farmer Mentors primarily working in the coastal SC counties of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton, Beaufort, and Jasper, and the coastal GA counties of Effingham, Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Glynn.
The participating Service Providers and Farmer Mentors acknowledged that, for many, this was a first time opportunity to change their knowledge of, and advocacy for, the value of indigo dye production as part of a renaissance of Lowcountry indigo and related companion products. This change took place by trainings that both offered and supported a first-hand understanding of:
1) indigo and perennial food and fiber crops as a source of income for Limited Resource farmers;
2) developing the indigo value chain with producer cooperatives (farmers and textile artists) and universities partnering to establish systems for production, processing, and distribution to reach local markets for natural dye, dyed textiles, and related local food and fiber with products marketed to tell the story of their Lowcountry origins, and;
3) marketing indigo dye, indigo dyed textiles, and dyeing experiences across the region to tap growing demand for coastal agritourism/cultural tourism, interior design textile art, fashion design textile art, destination weddings, art classes in K-12, colleges and universities.
With the majority of SPs representing academic institutions and NGO's eligible for significant and ongoing grant funding to develop a sustainable regional value chain for indigo, it is anticipated that behavior change will also include applications for significant multi-year grants tailored to respond to this opportunity, including USDA 1890 Capacity Building grants for HBCU's.
The International Center for Indigo Culture (ICIC) held on-farm trainings on St. Helena Island in Fall of 2024, Spring and Fall of 2025, and on Sapelo Island in Fall of 2025, and on-line trainings in the winter of 2024 and 2025. These trainings offered a unique combination of curriculum and hands-on learning experiences for 50 Service Providers and Farmer Mentors, largely serving historic Gullah Geechee communities in coastal South Carolina and Georgia, to develop a first-hand understanding of opportunities for small farmers interested in indigo cultivation, natural-dye processing, and value-added textile arts products and cultural experiences. The curriculum and training materials developed for participants included indigo dye kits, and a book entitled Indigofera Suffruticosa: A Lowcountry-based Cultivation and Processing Guide.
Photos from these trainings are available on the ICIC website:
- the Sapelo Island training on October 11, 2025: https://www.internationalcenterforindigoculture.org/post/indigo-harvest-training-sapelo.
- the St. Helena Island training on September 24, 2025: https://www.internationalcenterforindigoculture.org/post/our-st-helena-training-celebration. This event was filmed by the team from SC ETV's popular Making it Grow series, with participation from well-known host Amanda McNulty (who dyed her hair with indigo blue!)
Cooperators
- (Educator and Researcher)
- - Producer (Educator)
- - Producer (Educator)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- - Producer (Educator)
Education
Planning and design of this project proposal represented a multi-partner collaboration among mentor farmers (Sara Reynolds Green and Maurice Bailey), ICIC board members and indigo dyers/dye makers (Donna Hardy, David Harper, Arianne King-Comer, Heather Powers, Nathaniel Styles, Tony Williams), 1890 HBCU faculty (Dr. Florence Anoruo SC State) and Dr. Nik Heynen of University of Georgia(1862), and indigo growers/dye producers (LaChaun Moore of GIST yarn, Precious Jennings of Align the Fibers, and Carolina Harper/CHI design indigo). It is this balance of skills, interests, knowledge and connections that allowed the project team to make great advancements in closing the gap between the growing regional market demand for all-things-indigo, and the ability of small farms to meet that demand with sustainable production of indigo dye pigment and value-added food and fiber products from companion plants. Production methods demonstrated were all sustainable and did not rely on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and plant stock for indigo, fiber hemp, sea island cotton, and berry crops did not include genetically-engineered (GMO) varieties.
Training needs were determined by these interrelated facts: 1) sales and interest in Lowcountry indigo are growing; 2) production of Lowcountry indigo dye pigment is not keeping pace with demand and crops are left in the field each year, and; 3) both Gullah communities on St. Helena and Sapelo Islands and partners have understood the realities of 1 and 2 above, and have been working over the past several years to reintroduce indigo as an entrepreneurial opportunity for local sustainable farmers as part of a desperate attempt to stem land loss and cultural erosion.
Outreach and recruitment of the 50 SPs (averaging 25 per state, 12 to 13 per state per year) focused on those professionals and community leaders in coastal counties of SC and GA working directly with Lowcountry farmers, especially Limited Resource farmers of Gullah heritage. Project team partners personally vetted the candidate SPs and Mentor Farmers with on-line interviews to determine their potential to provide outreach and training to underserved farmers in this region. Project partners in each state reached out to their networks directly by phone, email, or in person to share invitations and recruit SPs and Mentor Farmers to participate in the Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts.
The Indigo 101 Online Trainings and Marketing Online Trainings were held simultaneously as zoom conferences for 25 Cohort 1 SPs from both states in the first year, and again for 25 SPs in Cohort 2 from both states in the second year. ICIC lead these trainings and featured curriculum developed collectively by all partners, and first-hand sharing of knowledge from indigo growers, dye producers, and product marketers. Indigo 101 curriculum followed the steps and methods outlined in the how-to manual, and provided an overview of the process and its potential for small sustainable farmers. The Marketing curriculum focused on proven and growing market segments for indigo dye pigment, textile products, and hands-on experiences and agritourism opportunties, and also the potential income from indigo companion plants, such as dyeing locally grown fiber (hemp, sea island cotton), and branding and marketing value-added food products made from Lowcountry-grown berries.
A total of four Harvest and Processing On-farm Trainings were held in September - November of both years, one each year on St. Helena Island SC and one on Sapelo Island GA. The Sapelo event in 2024 was cancelled due to a tragedy involving a collapsed dock at the ferry landing - the only access to the island. These events were designed to represent heart of the training program, where SPs and Mentor Farmers came to the farms, met other SPs, farmers and indigo growers, processors and artists in their region, and participated first-hand in harvesting the indigo crop and initiating creation of a batch of dye using the wet-fermentation method. Since the trainings were 4 hours on-farm, and the process for each batch of dye took 2 to 3 days, the host farms in St. Helena and Sapelo staged the processing so that participants: 1) harvested and initiated an indigo vat; 2) witnessed a vat with harvested plants that had undergone fermentation from previous harvest and was then aerated with pumps and the addition of hydrated lime to transform that vat into indigo dye pigment, and; 3) experienced a final stage vat that was reduced to blue "slurry" being filtered and dried for packaging. Thankfully, COVID restrictions did not present a social distancing problem for these outdoor events. Masks, hand sanitizer, and proper precautions were available for those who requested them.
The initial run of 250 copies of a the 52-page, color how-to manual for Lowcountry indigo dye production, Indigofera Suffruticosa: A Lowcountry-based Cultivation and Processing Guide, was produced and distributed as a user-friendly guide for Lowcountry farmers and growers to use when planting indigo crops and companion plants for their own use, to sell to indigo dyers, or to serve as part of a worker-owner processing cooperative in their community. As an outcome of the follow-up with SPs and evaluation of their experience, ICIC is now focused on growing and maintaining an engaged network of SPs and farmers in coastal SC and GA with the goal of advancing indigo dye production, processing, distribution and marketing by strengthening know-how, systems, and collaborative partnerships throughout the value chain. During the course of the project, we received guidance and support about forming a Lowcountry Indigo Cooperative from Clemson University's SC Center for Cooperative and Enterprise Development.
This unique opportunity to work with the indigo plants, process, equipment and naturally-dyed textiles allowed SPs and Mentor Farmers to have a more detailed knowledge of the potential for scaling these farm-based systems to serve multiple farms in a given region with a central dye house facility that could be owned and operated by a producers cooperative of farmers and textile artists. The ultimate test of success for this project, if we have done our jobs well, will be an ongoing network of collaborators scaling community-based indigo dye production, resulting in a noticeable increase in the amount of indigo blue seen in homes, businesses, and on the streets from Charleston to Beaufort to Savannah and beyond -- putting Lowcountry indigo back on the map.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
At least 50 Service Providers from the Lowcountry coastal communities of GA, SC and NC participated in a series of on-line and on-farm trainings to develop an understanding of emerging opportunities and markets for plant-based indigo dye grown and processed in the region.
The International Center for Indigo Culture has hosted over 50 Service Providers from the region for on-line and on-farm trainings which highlight the value-chain of plant-based indigo dye and dyed-textiles. Two trainings have been held at Marshview Community Organic Farm on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and one has been held at the Save Our Legacy Ourselves farm on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Both are Gullah Geechee communities with historically underserved small family-owned farms. These trainings featured extensive hands-on experience with indigo plant propagation, cultivation and harvesting, and also a wet fermentation-based process of indigo dye extraction, dewatering, filtration, drying, and pigment powder production and packaging.
Two on-line trainings where held to focus on the history of indigo dye production in the Southeast, current-day indigo value chain and marketing opportunities, bottlenecks and opportunities for on-farm and community-based production and processing, and discussion of the potential for formation of a Lowcountry Indigo Cooperative to increase production capacity.
Each on-line and on-farm training averaged 25 to 35 participants including Service Providers and Farmer Mentors.
In addition, in February 2025, ICIC was invited to present an overview of this project at the Fourth International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference (IGGAD) held at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. The presentation was well-received and generated much interest among audience members, who felt that indigo was relevant topic for the conference theme, Reconstruction Through the Lens of Gullah Geechee and Communities within the African Diaspora.
The learning and action outcomes of this initiative have included:
- 50 participating Service Providers and Mentor Farmers in SC and GA are now empowered with knowledge and information to share with small and limited-resource farmers in coastal communities
- They have access to printed and digital copies of the book, Indigofera Suffruticosa: A Lowcountry-based Cultivation and Processing Guide, which can be shared with farmers in the communities they serve
- A network of Lowcountry-based indigo-focused farmers, processors, natural dyers, textile artists, educators and retailers has formed to advance the value chain for these truly regional, culturally-significant products and experiences
- Extensive photographs and information documenting the training experience have been shared with additional audiences, including Gullah Conference participants and those who view the ICIC e-newsletter and website posts
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
On-farm Workshops in 2024 and 2025 on St. Helena Island SC and Sapelo Island GA offered participating service providers and mentor farmers hands-on group experiences in Spring and Fall to develop a working knowledge of how to raise and process a successful crop of indigo plants (Indigofera suffruticosa) in the Lowcountry of coastal South Carolina and Georgia, including:
- cultivation without chemicals -- site preparation, seeding, watering, weeding and fertilizing
- group harvesting of indigo plants using hand-pruners, battery-powered hedge-trimmers, and tarps
- processing indigo plants through each of the required stages - fermentation, oxidation/aeration, dewatering, filtration, drying and grinding with farm-scale equipment and supplies
- producing and packaging indigo powder and cakes as a shelf-stable natural dye for use in textile dying.
On-line Workshops and participation in the 4th annual International Gullah-Geechee and African Diaspora Conference conference at Coastal Carolina University offered participating service providers, mentor farmers, educators, textile artists and consumers the opportunity to learn about the history, production, value chain, value-added products, and marketing opportunities for Lowcountry indigo in the 21st century.
A full-color how-to workbook publication entitled Indigofera Suffruticosa - a Lowcountry-based Cultivation and Processing Guide is made available for free in print form to all participating service providers and farmers, and to the general public in PDF form.
As a result of the community outreach conducted under this grant, and the publication, the International Center for Indigo Culture has been invited to participate in numerous arts, agriculture, history and education-related events and lead workshops to promote awareness of indigo as an agricultural crop, and experience with processing the plant into natural dye for use in natural fiber textile arts, and other value-added products.