Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot)

Flowers of Queen Anne's Lace - note the single red flower in the center of each cluster.

Queen Anne's Lace (daucus carota), also known as Wild Carrot, is a plant that can be used in a variety of ways. The roots can be eaten when the plant is young, older plants can be used in herbal preparations, and it can also be used to create dye. Queen Anne's Lace is often found in fields, ditches, along road sides, and in other such areas. 

Queen Anne's Lace is so called because the flowers resemble lace. If you look closely, you can see a single red flower in the center of each cluster. In folklore, this is said to be a drop of blood from Queen Anne, who pricked herself with the needle while making the lace.

Queen Anne's Lace gone to seed.

Leaf of Queen Anne's Lace

  Queen Anne's Lace takes two years to fully mature. During the beginning of the first year the root can be harvested and eaten much like a carrot, however, after that small window the root becomes too tough and woody to eat. The young leaves are also edible. During the second year the plant will grow taller, often around three to five feet, and produce flowers.  The flowers are edible as well, and can be eaten raw, or cooked in a variety of ways (such as dipped in batter and fried like a fritter). Later in the second year the plant's flower clusters will turn to seed, and the cycle begins again.
The leaves of the plant can be used as a diuretic, used to aid stomach upsets, and can be taken as a preventative for kidney stones. The leaves of Queen Anne's Lace can cause the skin to become very sensitive to sunlight, so take care when picking or handling the plant. The seed of the plant can cause uterine contractions, and has traditional uses as birth control. The root can have similar effects. The flowers, and some also use the stem and leaves, can be turned into a dye that ranges from yellow to deep green.
 

Ritually, the plant can be used to promote fertility, sexual stamina, and to attract love and passion. The roots can be used to keep one grounded and balanced. Forked roots are considered to be lucky.  

Stem of Queen Anne's Lace

It is very important to correctly identify Queen Anne's Lace, as it closely resembles water hemlock, and poison hemlock - both quite toxic, and both can make you very sick, or even kill you. There are a few key ways to tell the plants apart. First, the stems of Queen Anne's Lace will be covered in fine hairs, and as was mentioned earlier, when the flowers are in bloom a single red flower can be found near the center of the flower cluster. The stems of poison hemlock will be smooth, hollow, and covered in purplish splotches. With Queen Anne's Lace, a bit of crushed leaf or root will smell like carrot, where poison hemlock has a different odor - sometimes described as more earthy. As always, please do your homework if you're going to be foraging or engaging in herbalism - be sure you're picking the right plant, and be sure you're using it correctly.

Queen Anne's Lace is not native to North America, and is often considered a pest plant due to how aggressively it can spread, which can cause it to take over areas and coke out native plants. It's my understanding that in some states of the US it is even illegal to plant or transport Queen Anne's Lace, so it's best to check your local laws if you wish to cultivate it.

Natural Egg Dyes (Part One)

With Ostara and Easter right around the corner, I figured now would be a good time to start playing around with natural dyes again. This is something I tried a little bit in the past, but never had great success with. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong then, I distinctly remember having poor results with turmeric - but this time around it gave a rich and even color. I suppose, like many skills, it just takes a bit of experimenting and practice.

So, I decided to give four dyes a try - turmeric, beets, mugwort, and smoked paprika. (We did not have any plain paprika at the time, and I'm not sure if there would be any real difference anyway.)

First I had to boil some eggs. There are lots of ways to do this, but my favorite method is to put the eggs in a pot, only a single layer of them. Fill the pot with cool water to about an inch above the eggs. Put the pot on the stove, over medium high heat. When it comes to a boil turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for two minutes. After two minutes, remove it from the heat, put the cover on the pot, and let it sit for 12 minutes. At that point you may want to take one of the eggs, run it under cold water, and make sure it's done. In my experience though, this is a fairly fool proof method. Then run all the eggs under cold water, and let them cool. If you use fresh eggs, they'll be harder to peel. It's best to get your eggs four or five days before you'll need them.

Turmeric

Turmeric produced a very vibrant and even yellow dye. To make this dye, I mixed two tablespoons of turmeric into a cup of hot water. I let the dye cool to room temperature, and mixed in a tablespoon of white vinegar. First I put the egg in for just a minute or two - that produced a pale yellow-orange egg (left). I put the egg back in for another five minutes, which gave a really rich yellow (right.)

Smoked Paprika

The paprika dye was made in the same way as the turmeric dye. Two tablespoons smoked paprika into a cup of hot water. When it cooled, I mixed in a tablespoon of white vinegar. this dye didn't coat as evenly for me. I left it in for a minute or so, and it came out pale orange with some dark orange splotches (left). After another five minutes, it was a darker orange, but still a bit splotchy (right). Leaving it in the dye even longer didn't seem to change it much. Not an even dye, but it did make some interesting patterns.

For both the turmeric and paprika dyes, you will have to allow the eggs to dry a bit, then gently wipe off any spice sticking to it.(Or just strain the water before dipping eggs.)

Beets

The beet dye took the longest to make, because I used fresh beets. Using the liquid from a can of beets would probably be quicker - but I love eating beet greens, so I went for fresh. I diced up a cup of beets, and added that to two cups of water. I let that come to a boil on the stove, then reduced the heat and let it simmer for about forty minutes. Strained the beets from the liquid, allowed the liquid to cool, and added a tablespoon of white vinegar. The beet dye made a lovely pastel pink after a minute or two (left), and five minutes added to that gave a deeper pink (right).

The final dye was made with mugwort. I let two tablespoons dried mugwort steep in a cup of hot water until the water came to room temperature. Strained the mugwort out, and added a tablespoon white vinegar to the liquid. I left it in for a minute and saw no change to the egg. After about ten minutes longer in the dye, the egg was a very pale green. I didn't think it worked well, so I didn't bother to take any pictures - but the color seemed a bit deeper this morning, so I included it in the group shot above. I think in the future I'll try something else to make a green dye.

Whatever dye you use, if you like the look of really glossy eggs, you just need to rub a little olive oil onto each egg. Putting rubber bands around the eggs while dying them can make interesting designs, and you can always use wax or crayon to make more detailed designs before dipping the eggs into the dye.

Later this week I plan to test out more dyes, as well as a few different dying methods. Should be fun! Later this month I also want to write about making talismans from hollow eggs, which can be a nice thing to include as part of an Ostara ritual.