At the beginning of March, we started to prepare the seedling beds, in which we scattered the indigo seeds densely in the wells.
We will be growing woad (Isatis tinctoria), which used to be the main source of indigo in the temperate zones of Europe, but also other indigo species that have a higher indigo content, such as Westafrican Indigofera arrecta and Central American Indigofera suffructicosa. Within the project, however, we will mainly focus on the cultivation and use of Persicaria tinctoria, a plant from the buckwheat family (also known as dyer’s knotweed) that is native to Eastern Europe and Asia. There are different varieties of Persicaria tinctoria including Kojōko with white flowers and pointed leaves and Senbon with pink flowers and rounded leaves. We assume that Persicaria tinctoria is best suited to the harsh climate of the Waldviertel region in northern Austria.