When I first discovered that we had bedstraw growing along our driveway, I was ecstatic. Something about finding a plant in the wild instead of having to purchase seeds online makes it so much more rewarding for me, and to have found one of our few natural sources of red was truly exciting!
I had previously found another type of bedstraw,
Galium aparine (commonly known as cleavers, clivers, or sticky Willy) in our woods and quickly discovered that the roots were quite unpleasant to try to get to. The stems and leaves are covered in tiny hooked hairs, and the plants that I found had stems that were so tiny near the base of the plant that they often broke before I was able to follow them to the ground. I assume this is by design, as it would allow the plant to break free and stick to a passerby, spreading its seed. At any rate, it makes for a miserable day of root-collecting.
The bedstraw along our driveway, however, is
Galium boreale (Northern bedstraw) and I have found it to be much more suitable for collection. Knowing nothing about bedstraw root collection, I had pulled out a sample while I was attempting to establish exactly what kind of bedstraw it was. Pulling the plant up by the base of the stem (my go-to method of getting at roots because I'm relatively lazy), I retrieved about a 3/4" piece of root. Just looking at it I could see how red it was, and I positively squealed with delight when I got it home and put it in a jar of boiling hot water. After 5 minutes, the water had picked up a very noticeable red tint and gave me more confidence that I might get some dye-worthy results. I was concerned, however, that I was going to need to decimate my entire patch of bedstraw to get enough root material for even a trial batch.
As it turns out, attempting to pull the plant out of even the softest soils yields very little root and they’re quite tiny to begin with. So I grabbed my garden trowel and a bucket, and the following is what I learned about finding and harvesting Northern bedstraw:
Galium boreale, in bloom
Don't bother searching for the plant by the shape of the leaves unless you're on foot and know there is bedstraw in the area. Instead, get in your vehicle or (better yet) have someone drive you around country roads and look for the flower clusters. After I figured out what the bedstraw flowers looked like, I realized that it grows everywhere around here. Once you know where the bedstraw is growing, it's easier to look for it by the leaves if you need to. In Western Minnesota, the bedstraw has been blooming since at least mid-June. As of today (July 9), there are still some visible flower clusters but the heavy blooming period appears to be over.
Above - the flowers from a distance (yellow arrows)
Below - bedstraw plants growing amongst the tall grasses on a roadside
After selecting a patch of bedstraw to harvest, look around the plants and try to find areas where you can see quite a few of them growing closely together. Pick a likely spot and use your trowel to lift out a manageable clump of dirt. Dig down at least 4-5" until you have a feel for how deep the roots are in your area. The next part is completely counter-intuitive, but I have found that it's far easier for me to find the roots this way.
Turn the dirt clump upside down, so that the grass and stems are sitting in the palm of your hand and the dirt is on top. The roots are quite easy to distinguish due to their reddish color, and I've found that they don't break nearly as often when I'm harvesting "from the ground up". The yellow arrows in the picture above all indicate the same visible bedstraw root - note the reddish color. The blue and red arrows call out two other roots in the dirt clump that I'm holding.
Begin gently manipulating the dirt mass, letting loosened dirt and unwanted plant matter fall back into the hole you had dug. (Ideally, you don't want to leave large holes in the ground that can injure unsuspecting animals or people.) Tease the dirt away from the bedstraw roots you find, and drop any pieces into a collection container. As you get better at identifying the roots, you'll find that not only will you be able to find all the roots of the plants you had seen growing out of the ground, you'll also find more roots that didn't have a visible stem above the ground.
Above - A sense of scale for both plant and root. That is a woman's hand in the picture.
Below - This flaming yellow and orange root was impossible to miss, but rarely will you find roots that color. More commonly they appear as the root that the red arrow is calling out.
While you're out in the field, don't worry about picking the stem off from the root or cleaning them. Concentrate on finding enough material to take home. As you finish up your first dirt clump, dig out another similar clump from the edge of the hole, in the direction of the nearest visible bedstraw (or toward any bedstraw roots that you can see in the hole). Depending on the number of plants growing in the area, you might be able to harvest enough roots in one or two locations without decimating the whole plant population. I harvested an area about the size of a dinner plate and found that to yield plenty of roots for my dye samples. I might have even been able to dye a small project with the quantity that I got.
Once you've collected the material that you need, the timing of the next step will depend a bit on the type of soil you were digging in. If it was muddy and sticky, wait a few days for it to dry out some and become more crumbly. The more soil that you can brush off without damaging the roots, the less you'll have to try to wash off later. On the other end of the spectrum, roots that have been allowed to dry out completely become very brittle and tend to break while you're attempting to clean them. Having now dealt with those type of roots, I would much rather clean slightly muddy ones.
Lay out some newspaper and then something on top that's a light, solid color (my standby - paper towels). Begin going through the material you had previously collected, removing as much dirt from the bedstraw roots as you can with your fingers. Be gentle, teasing the roots from the dirt with your fingertips. The color comes from the outer part of the root, so don't start scouring them with a toothbrush or anything traumatic like that. Put the cleaned roots into a jar or bowl, and cut off any of the stems that are still attached - I cut them off where the color changes between the root and stem. Compost the unwanted plant matter and the soil.
I washed my roots prior to using them for dye, as I didn't want the muddy water dirtying my yarn. To wash, add some cold water to the roots and let them sit for a short time, perhaps 5 minutes. Agitate them gently, allowing the water movement to knock off more of the dirt. They don't need to pass a white glove test, just swirl them around until you are satisfied that there isn't too much dirt left. Pour off the dirty water, either through a screen or a piece of cheesecloth works well.
At this point, you can do one of two things - either
use the roots for dye right away, or dry them for use later. (you're on your own with that right now, I've not tried drying the roots yet. I don't have that kind of patience!) I definitely wouldn't put them into a sealed container until they were completely dry, or you run the risk of mold.
