Harvesting woad seed

Last month, when the woad flowers started to fade I dug up most of my plants leaving only three to set seeds. The black shiny seeds were ready to harvest at the beginning of July. The seeds were still attached to the stalks yesterday, but I was afraid that if I had left them any longer the wind would blow them all over the allotment. So with my seccateurs I cut small bits of stalks with seeds. I surprised that the seeds stayed attached to the stalks and did not fall off with my handling them. I filled two florist buckets with small stalks and seeds and put them inside the greenhouse to dry. Today I gave the buckets a good shake and many seeds fell off into the bottom of the bucket. I think I will have enough seeds to fill a one litre soda water bottle.

Visit to Tewkesbury

I have been meaning to visit Tewkesbury for a while, to take photos of woad growing in the wild. When I found out that there was a Medieval Festival in Tewkesbury I decided that it would be a good opportunity to go. Before the trip I asked around to see whether anyone knew where woad was growing. Nobody need exactly where I could find woad, and I was told to look at the battle site and on The Mythe.
We enjoyed the festival, and spend a long time looking at the traders in their replica tents. I ended up buying a horn spoon to eat my porridge, and a pewter belt end and buckle to use with my inkle loom braids. We also enjoyed watching the reenactors in their colourful clothes and suits of armour. I was surprised that there were no demonstrations of natural dyes or spinning, although we did see several women using a lucet. We then had a good look at the Medieval Encampment and at the battle site, but did not find any woad.
We decided to leave the visit to The Mythe to next year, at a time when the woad is in flower.