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Easter Special
Dyeing Eggs Using Herbs

By Debs Cook

One of the treats of Easter for me when I was a child was dyeing eggs that we then ate as part of a picnic lunch. Some of you may also remember helping your Mum prepare a pot of boiling eggs, waiting for them to be ready to immerse in the bowls of rainbow-coloured vinegar water, that you'd made ready with goodies from the kitchen including red cabbage, onion skins and marigold petals? The results were beautiful, bright all natural Easter eggs in spring green, bright pink and sky blue without an ounce of chocolate in sight! So why not bring back the memories and get the kids to help you create some herb dyed eggs this Easter?

Dyeing eggs with natural dyes is fun and easy, but unlike chemical dyes and shop bought 'food colourings', natural herb dyes give eggs a much more subtle colouring. Dyeing with natural dyes can be great fun for children because the colours come from materials they're familiar with in their everyday lives, things they see in the kitchen and garden such as onion skins, beetroot, turmeric, red cabbage, marigolds, dandelions and raspberries to name a few.

The dyeing solution for your eggs is made from water, the herb of your choice which will contain its own pigment e.g. yellow in marigold petals, and white vinegar as a mordant that fixes the colour to the egg. Don't use malt vinegar as it will add a brown tinge to your eggs. I have used raspberry vinegar to great effect with raspberries, when making pink dyed eggs.

Use as much water as will cover the number of eggs you wish to dye. Adding 3 teaspoons of white vinegar to every 250ml water. Then add the plant material in the following amounts per 250ml of water: 125ml fresh herb, berries, etc. Or 2 teaspoons teas or ground spices. For fruit or vegetable juices, simply substitute the juice for the water using as close to full strength as possible for the deepest colours. You need to use your own judgment about exactly how much herb to use, using white shelled eggs is best as the colour will be more vivid, brown eggs will do, but do bear in mind that this will give a different colour from white shelled eggs.

There are two approaches: the cold method and the boiled method. Both yield beautiful results, though the eggs prepared with the cold method are coloured pale and subtle pastels, and the boiled method, has more intense pastel colours. For both methods, you need to ensure that you wash the eggs in warm soapy water to remove any oily residue that may impede the colour from adhering to the eggs.

Cold Method

Hard boil the eggs and allow to cool before dyeing, you can set them aside whilst you prepare the herbal dye for the eggs to soak in. Except for spices, add a couple of handfuls of your chosen herb to a pan, the amount you use depends on the number of eggs you wish to dye. Add tap water to come at least one inch above the dyestuff. This will be about 250ml of water for each handful of dyestuff. Bring the water just to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Let simmer about 15 minutes or up to an hour until you like the colour obtained.

Keep in mind that dyed eggs will not become as dark as the colour in the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the herbal dye mixture into a liquid measuring jug. Add 3 teaspoons of white vinegar for each 250ml of strained dye liquid. Pour the mixture into a bowl or jar that is deep enough to completely cover the eggs you want to dye. Use a slotted spoon to lower the eggs into the hot liquid. Leave the eggs in the water until you like the colour.

Allow the egg to sit in the herbal dye bath for several hours or overnight. The longer the egg soaks, the deeper the final colour will be. If you plan to eat the eggs be sure to do this step in the refrigerator. When eggs are dyed to the colour you desire, lift the eggs out with the slotted spoon. Let them dry on a rack or drainer.

Hot Method

For the hot method, make your herb dye bath as described above and place the eggs in the dye bath in the pan. Bring to boil for 10-30 minutes, no longer than 30 minutes, but the longer they boil the deeper the colour will be. The eggs can be removed from the dye bath once you've finished boiling them. Or the dye bath with the eggs still in it can be allowed to cool and then put in the refrigerator to soak further until the desired colour is achieved. When the eggs are finished, remove them from the dye bath, pat dry with a paper towel and return eggs to refrigerator.

Herbs to use

There are many items you'll find in the kitchen and herb garden that you can use to colour your eggs, make sure if you plan to eat the eggs that the herbs are safe to eat.

Colour Obtained	Herbs To Use
Black	Black Walnut, Alder
Blue	Elder, Elecampane, Cornflowers, Indigo Root
Brown	Burdock, Comfrey, Fennel, Onion Skins, Juniper Berries, Tea Leaves
Yellow	Marigold Petals, Turmeric, Goldenrod, Plantain, Safflower Petals, Agrimony, Chamomile, Green Tea, Saffron, Juniper Leaves
Orange	Carrots, Paprika, Onion Skins, Tansy Shoots
Green	Spinach Leaves, Angelica, Coltsfoot Leaf, Marjoram, Rosemary, Tansy, Yarrow, Golden Delicious Apple Peel, Sweet Cicely, Hyssop
Red	Dandelion Root, St. Johns Wort Flowers, Ladies Bedstraw, Oregano, Sweet Woodruff, Hops
Purple - Lavender	Red Cabbage, Violet Flowers, Red Grape Juice
Pink	Sorrel Root, Chicory Root, Madder Root, Beetroot, Raspberries, Cranberry Juice
You can get more colours by over-dyeing. For example, try dyeing first with turmeric, then over-dyeing with red cabbage to get green. Or, first with beets and then with red cabbage to get a deeper shade of purple. Use your imagination!

Tips

Before dyeing the eggs, draw shapes, pictures or inspiring words on them with crayons or a piece of wax. The wax won't absorb the colour so the designs will allow the natural egg shell colour to show through.

For a textured look, dab the still wet egg with a sponge.

An egg carton works nicely as a drying rack. Be careful to handle the eggs gently and minimally as some of the colours can easily be rubbed off before the egg has dried.

Eggs coloured with natural dyes have a dull finish and are not glossy. After they are dry, you can rub the eggs with cooking oil or mineral oil to give them a soft sheen.

There are other methods you can try, such as blowing out the white and yolk from inside the egg if you want to keep them for longer. I must confess that I've never tried doing this myself, and I'll resist the granny and sucking eggs jokes.

You can also press herb leaves to the egg, then wrap the egg in some old clean tights and pop them in the dye bath, when you remove the tights and leaves you'll be left with a herb leaf 'ghost' on your egg.

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