Vibrant Valley Farm: The Evolution to Vibrant Valley Blue, Slow Textiles, Dynamic Field Production, Fashion Design, and Body Care Products. 

Vibrant Valley Farm’s interest and connection with indigo has evolved through the years, like many things in the farm world. This relationship has shifted, changed and grown with each week, month and season. From our first planting and fresh dye class in 2016 with the Museum of Contemporary Craft and Rowland Ricketts to the hand harvested pigment we used to make a vat this week in 2021- this journey has been full of learning, exploration and artistic expression.

Here at Vibrant Valley Farm we grow Persicaria Tinctoria, also known as Japanese Indigo. We have had the pleasure of exploring this plant as a cultivar for the past six years. We started by planting about 600 plants in 2017 and this past year we grew 10,000 plants, with seeds from three different sources that we know and trust- Baliwick Blue, Rowland Ricketts, and Grand Prismatic Seed. Our techniques and planting methods have evolved and changed and we are fine tuning our systems to assure we have a sufficient amount in cultivation for our extraction goals, fresh dye workshops, body products, seed saving and overall art form and exploration.  

Teaching was the initial outlet that really sparked our interested and inspired us to dive deep into the world of indigo. The opportunity to share with people in an educational setting encouraged us to find our personal expression into curriculum, with a format that allowed us to intentionally study the cultivar, teach people what we were interested in, with facts and historical context of the plant; teaching is the best way to be an intentional student of the craft- and it has deepened our knowledge and craft. Our educational structure and component has built community, allowing the farm a time to share our space and what we do as farmers with the world- with art and textiles as at the catalyst. This portion of our business model and form of community development has grown more each year and our class offerings and collaborations are just getting started. 

Our extraction process has been very inspiring, creating systems that allow us as Vibrant valley Farm to be independent in our growing and cultivation and for Vibrant Valley Blue (our new side brand) to grow, in our dyeing practices and art form. We extract pigment roughly 8 times throughout the season and have saved an average of 25 gallons of pigment annually and our goal for 2021 is 45 gallons. More pigment allows Vibrant Valley Blue to study the extraction process, cleaning of the pigment, and the ability to make dye vats for our own projects to share with the world and collaborate with other artists. Having the pigment extracted on site enables us to have our own recipes for the entire process of farm to textile production. 

Textile production and up-cycling used clothing has been an integral piece of our last few seasons and is a major part of our business model that we are growing and expanding upon on this indigo journey. 

The deeper we dive into growing and producing pigment, the more we are faced with and inspired to be advocates for slow textiles and fashion design. We have also designed a custom blazer made with linen and silk charmeuse that will be offered on our website in spring 2022. Stay tuned! Our dreams of assuring the world is fly is happening. 

We are committed farmers that work effortlessly to care for the earth in all of our farming practices and as we learn more about the textile industry in more depth it is imperative that we incorporate the same theories and practice into the indigo portion of our business model and stewardship.

Our land, textile and community stewardship is not only literally with how we grow the plant and tend to it throughout the season, but it is about the fabric we use to dye with, who we collaborate with, the structure of our fashion line, who models and the educational elements of history and time that is related to this planet. Focusing on these integral themes is what inspires us to slow down, look around and do our best to change the tide of the current textile and fashion scene. 

Textile production, up-cycled dye projects, education and collaborations are not the only avenues we have chosen to celebrate the dynamic value of Persicaria Tinctoria. We have started to use the plant in its free form to make serums, salves and soaps to raise the bar and illustrate the dynamic uses that stem from this one plant, while creating routines that care for our skin and bodies. This is where we are finding our edge at raising the bar, celebrating all we can from this plant.

In turn, we are just getting started and look forward to the seasons to come. Our relationship and potential with indigo is dynamic and we want to keep learning, exploring and collaborating with folks to be our best in this industry and most importantly, as stewards to this land.