Episode 531: Coaxing Color and Pigment from the World of Foraged Mushrooms, with Julie Beeler of Bloom & Dye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHJmO0SqK8A Thank you so much for joining us today! If there's anything I've learned from my publishing partner Robin Avni, creative director of BLOOM Imprint, it's that some stories are best told visually. And today's guest is going to immerse us in the visual delight of the natural world's amazing palette for pigments, dyes and paints. Please meet Julie Beeler, a farmer-florist and owner of Bloom & Dye, based in Trout Lake, Washington in the Columbia River basin. Julie is a designer, artist, educator and native Oregonian who grew up with a deep love and curiosity for the natural world. Along with her husband, Brad Johnson, she founded and led Second Story, an interactive design studio in Portland until 2012. Textiles reflect the range of beautiful blue pigments from the Indigo plants grown by Bloom & Dye A Trout Lake resident since 2014, she conceived and launched Bloom & Dye in 2018 to grow her work and passion to benefit what she values most: curiosity, education, creativity, collaboration, community, and the environment. Growth often starts with conversations that lead to an interest in knowing more. For Julie, educating others on how plants and their colors reflect the beauty of nature is something she is moved to share as a way to inspire care, stewardship and impact. When she is not digging in the soil, Julie is working in her art studio or leading workshops. Colors of the mushroom world: Julie Beeler's new project will inspire you to explore mushrooms and the colors they produce One detail page that features an illustrated mushroom and the many colors derived from it. She joined me to introduce her newest amazing project, The Mushroom Color Atlas. Julie gathered a small team of artists and experts to create this free resource. The Mushroom Color Atlas is a reference for anyone and everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from them. But it is also the start of a journey and a point of departure, introducing you to the kaleidoscopic fungi kingdom and our connection to it. https://youtu.be/c12obA5C7n0 Some of you may remember being introduced to Julie and two other talented Slow Flowers members during our April 2021 monthly meet-up - Diving into Dye Plants, with Elaine Vandiver of Old Homestead Alpacas & Gholson Gardens, Lourdes Casañares-Still of Masagana Flower Farm and Tinta Studio and Julie. It was such a fantastic session, and you can watch the replay link above. I'm so excited that Julie brought this project to life and shared it with our community and anyone who loves plants, the natural world, art and color! And, as we discussed, if you're in the Pacific Northwest, please come to Julie's DIY stage presentation at the NW Flower & Garden Festival, Saturday, February 12th at 5 p.m. -- Colors from the Dye Garden. I'll see you there! Dried flowers from the Bloom & Dye gardens and studio, often used in Julie's workshops, kits and courses. Places where you can connect with Julie Beeler:Follow Bloom & Dye on Instagram and Facebook Follow The Mushroom Color Atlas on Instagram Workshops at Wildcraft Studio School It's a busy week here at the Slow Flowers Society, folks, and I want to draw your attention to two items of note! Connie Homerick of Ohio Cut Flower Collective (left) and Patti Doell of Garden State Flower Cooperative First, this Friday, November 12th is our Virtual Member Meet-up for November and the theme is a hot topic for sure: All About Flower Co-ops & Wholesale Hubs. Now that the growing season is winding down for many of our members who are flower farmers or farmer-florists, it's time to reassess and also plan for the future. We've heard from so many members and supporters about the desire to form a collective selling hub for your flowers -- but the concept may seem daunting. Of course, there are some established models, most notably, the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market,