Eggs To Dye For!
We’ve been wanting to share an all-natural egg-dye tutorial with our members for years now but something always seems to get in the way – either the kids are such big helpers that the dye colors get too mixed up and we are unable to take a blog-worthy photograph or we forget the camera or it’s the day before Easter. But this year, we got all our eggs in a row and pulled together a few egg dye
options using produce you can find in your deliveries when you customize your box.
We hard boiled 24 eggs in preparation for egg dyeing.
Choose Your Colors & Ingredients
Red/pink: beet root (4 cups of chopped)
Orange: yellow onion skin (4 cups)
Yellow: turmeric (3 tablespoons shredded)
Blue: red cabbage (4 cups chopped)
Brown: 1 quart of very strong black coffee (instead of water)
Let's Get Cookin’
Once you have selected a dye, place the ingredients in a pot using the amount listed above. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar (white, apple cider, any kind) and 1 quart of water to a pot. Add additional water if the ingredients are not sufficiently covered. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Let the ingredients simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the dye and put it into a bowl. Wait for the mixture to become room temperature before you begin to dye your eggs.
How Long To Keep Eggs In The Dye Bath?
Natural dyes do require a little more patience than the grocery store dye kits. To give you an idea of the color intensity to expect from your natural dyes, we have created a chart for you to reference (see above). In general, it can take five minutes to four hours, so it really depends on your time, patience and determination.
Brown Eggs Versus White Eggs
Although we initially started out only dyeing white eggs, we wanted to see how brown eggs would hold up to the same dye bath. You can see a comparison of how the white/brown eggs absorbed the dye bath for the red cabbage and onion skin. And if I do say so myself, they look pretty darn good!
What If I Don't Have Time For This?
No worries, we can help! Right now you can add this Natural Egg Dye kit to your next Farm Fresh To You delivery when you customize your box. The kiddos get a kick out of coloring eggs and we love the eco-friendly and non-toxic dyes with minimum muss and fuss. Each kit comes with 4 packages of dyes made from fruits, herbs and veggies (including beets, turmeric and spinach) and can make 5-6 different color combinations. See our egg dyeing experience with this kit here.
How To Add Eggs, Produce Ingredients & The Natural Egg Dye Kit To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery.
Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.
