Oogst – Gallnuts

Description

Gall nuts (Cynips gallae tinctoria) Oak apple (E)
Family: Cynipidae
Paint: Grey-brown
Instant Dyeing Dye
Gallnuts can be used as a dye and as a pickling agent.

When a gall wasp lays its eggs in an oak leaf, the leaf wraps itself around the eggs in response and begins to proliferate. The leaf serves as a shelter and food for the larva. The gall nut grows into a hard 'marble' and when the larva has hatched it disappears through the small hole in the gall nut.
The gall nut contains a lot of tannin, which is a pickling agent. So you don't have to pre-stain when you start painting.
By combining galnuts with, for example, iron sulphate and bluewood, you can achieve black.
Ever since the late Middle Ages, ink has been made from gall nuts. For this you need a binder, for example Guar gum or Arabic gum.
Would you like to try this too? Then quickly go to the recipe on this page!

Facts
galnuts…
…

This is one of the natural dye products described in the book Eco-dye by Anja Schrik.

Recipe

Basic recipe for making ink.

Necessities:

- 50 grams of galnuts
- 200 ml of water
- one teaspoon iron II sulphate
- teaspoon of guar gum

- a hammer or mortar and a sieve

- apron, gloves, old tea towel

- (glass) jars with lids

Step 1:
Place the galnuts in an old tea towel and beat them into small pieces with a hammer and put them in a sealable jar with 200 ml of water. Leave this in the windowsill for several days.

Step 2:
Add a teaspoon of ferrous sulphate, stir and seal again. You can now continue with step 3 or leave it in the windowsill for a few more days.

Step 3:
Stir well again and add a teaspoon of guar gum, use a strainer for this so there are no lumps. stir well and voilá, your homemade ink is ready!

MC Tips:
1) Don't forget to put on your gloves 😉
2) You can add more guar gum making it a paste you can dye with!