Atlanta Botanical Garden shares natural egg dyeing recipes

Q: Can you tell me about the natural egg dyeing class at the Atlanta Botanical Garden?

A: The Atlanta Botanical Garden normally holds a natural egg dyeing program each year, but had to cancel because of COVID-19 concerns.

So instead of doing it in person, they would like you to go online to join them for an interactive program to learn about the plants and dyeing eggs naturally.

“Natural dyeing has been around for thousands of years,” said family programs coordinator Heather Rice.

The program is a creative way for the children to engage with seasonally interesting plants, she said.

“The most exciting thing about this is to see an everyday food item and understand the plant that it comes from,” Rice said.

“Making the connection between the plant and the food and our uses for them in human society is really special.”

Their three favorite plant recipes will be provided: Beetroot, dried turmeric and frozen blueberries.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden provides these steps to prepare your kitchen:

• Glass jars are a good choice for storing dyes since they resist stains. Avoid using lightly colored silicone or wooden spatulas, as well as expensive pans that could get stained.
• Protect counters with parchment paper or old towels. Wear aprons since this fun project can get messy.
• Ventilate your cooking area, as the scent of cooking eggs and vinegar can be powerful.
• Pull out some crayons and try coloring patterns onto the eggs before you dye them. The wax resists the dye and creates neat patterns. You could also experiment with flat rubber bands or tape. Fix them before coloring and then remove them once the eggs have dried.
• Consider making the hard-boiled eggs ahead of time so they have time to chill.

“You might expect to see colors that appear more frequently in nature,” Rice said.

“For example, a traditional dye kit might have bright blue like a primary color blue whereas our blue will be more of a lavender blue.”