We're growing woad in our garden!
My daughter and I cut the largest leaves. I hope we'll get to harvest more later in the summer. We tore them into small bits. (following the instructions from Teresinha Robert's website on Woad Extraction )
I heated the leaves in a large pot of water to 80C for 30 minutes; this produced a brown liquid. After adding soda ash to reduce the liquid, it darkened.
Then I aerated it by pouring it from one pot to another, causing the indigotin to precipitate!
Yay! Woad!
Once the woad settles, and the water is syphoned off, I strained it through silk. It's a very fine powder!
