Dyer's Weld

Father's Day festivities included a visit to Stanground Wash with Rosie. Some of the more disturbed areas had a fine show of Weld Reseda luteola. This Mediterranean herb is the oldest yellow dye plant in the world. Weld alongside Madder, Woad and Chamomile produce the very best natural dyes for temperate areas. The famous medieval colours, Saxon green and Lincoln green, were produced by over-dying weld yellow with woad blue. Lincoln green was the colour of the clothing of Robin Hood's men.

The flowers are produced in a slender spike; each flower is 4 to 6mm diameter. It is in flower from June to August and the seeds ripen from August to September. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing several seeds. They are excellent plants for attracting wildlife; the flowers are pollinated by bees, butterflies and other insects.

In the evening we feasted on a meal cooked largely by the boys. Five-hour lamb was served with aubergines and courgettes, and this was followed by an apricot upside-down-cake - a recipe that we'd never tried before and which proved to be very, very tasty. The evening ended with a short burst of revision before Ben's final exam tomorrow.