Black Bean

The Plant
Black beans are an annual, warm season vegetable which requires full sun

How to Harvest
Black bean pods are left on the vine until most of the leaves have fallen off the vine and the beans rattle inside the pod. Harvest by pulling up the entire plant and placing it in a

How to Extract Color
Black beans are soaked for 24 hours in room temperature water. More beans will make more pigment. Strain the beans from the liquid and save the beans to cook with. Allow the remaining dye bath to settle for a few hours and then siphon the water and bean particles from the top, for a cleaner color. Next add pre-mordanted fiber or yarn to the dye bath and allow to soak for 12-48 hours. Rinse in cool water.

Black bean dye is not considered a colorfast dye. It is both light and heat sensitive and will fade when washed. Heat during the dye process will destroy the color. In addition, the dye is very sensitive to pH and will change colors depending on the pH, providing anywhere from purple to green, or brown.