Can I pick and freeze goldenrod flowers for later use?


Name: Lisa

Country or region: East Kentucky, USA

Message: I have a metric buttload of goldenrod on my property, but nothing to dye at the moment.  Can I pick and freeze the flowers for later use, or will freezing ruin them?  Thanks!
 

Yes, you can freeze goldenrod to use for dyeing later. You can freeze the blossoms themselves, but you may prefer to make an extract of the goldenrod flowers and then freeze that. Jim Liles recommends against drying goldenrod flowers for later use, as apparently they will lose color when dried.

Here is Liles' recipe for dyeing all fibers yellow with goldenrod or Queen Anne's lace (from The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing, 1990, by J. N. Liles, University of Tennessee Press):
"Collect goldenrod when the flower heads are just fully open or nearly so, and Queen Anne's lace when it first comes into full bloom. Queen Anne's lace may be cut off close to the ground, but use just the goldenrod flower heads. It will take about one pound of fresh Queen Anne's lace or 1/2 pound of goldenrod per pound of fiber. These two plants do not dry well for storage and should be cooked up soon after picking. Treat Queen Anne's lace the same as broom-sedge, but goldenrod may be cooked immediately without soaking. Since goldenrod is more concentrated, it is a good dye to prepare, place in plastic jugs, and freeze for later use."
That recipe refers to what he wrote on broom-sedge:
"For 1 pound of material, crowd as much of the dry broom-sedge as possible into a nonreactive 4-gallon vessel with enough water to cover. Soak overnight and cook (simmer or boil) for about two hours. Pour off the dye liquor, which is ready for use. Heat it to further concentrate the dye liquor for storage. Freeze to store, or add 0.1% sodium benzoate (about 1 teaspoon/gallon) [as a preservative]."
Goldenrod is more lightfast than some natural yellow dyes, but it's not as lightfast as quercitron or weld. It might be wise to dry goldenrod-dyed items indoors, and store them in the dark when they are not in use.

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Posted: Thursday - August 26, 2010 at 06:46 AM          

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