Add the salt and vinegar to the juice and stir to combine. http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-animal-007.gif~Hi! Add the vodka. 1. Pokeberry dye is very easy to make as the berries break easily and the rich color seeps out immediately. This is what pokeberries look like (Phytolacca americana): http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6015/5967963030_851eab6342_b.jpg, http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6131/6014992181_2acf9f2321_b.jpg, http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6127/6034040472_923a79ea1f_b.jpg. Summer came to an end this week, taking with it the worst of the damp heat and wonderful summer rainstorms. The cooked greens supposedly taste similar to spinach. Collect pokeberries carefully, as the juices of pokeweed can be absorbed through the skin and cause poisoning. Mash with the masher or muddler. I decided to google for pictures, and your site came up! I don't eat the berries. Pokeberry is an annual herbal plant that grows with a height of 2 to 12 feet. Yes, it turns brown both in the bottle and on the page, too. The blacker the berries, the better - fallen berries from the ground make excellent ink, but have more risk of staining fingers and being absorbed through the skin. Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae family, more commonly referred to as the mallow family. Storing your ink. Serve with sweetener of choice and, optionally, cream. I make a medicinal tincture from the roots (dosage is tiny). pokeberry ink Audrey came in yesterday afternoon looking for the feather quill that came with her souvenir Declaration of Independence, then again, complaining that it only could write one letter...she was outside experimenting with her own pokeberry ink! All I want is 1 more pen, and 1 more bottle of ink, and maybe 1 more pad of paper. http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6030/5967404293_4f6f510ced_b.jpg, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7041/6889822010_a1ae398f06_b.jpg, http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6131/5967968978_862f678207_b.jpg, http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/7007075771_61ec475ce5_b.jpg, http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1052/5103377189_a5384936fb_b.jpg. Strain the mixture into a glass bowl through cheesecloth and a fine mesh strainer or sieve, as many times as needed until the liquid flows smoothly and is free of particles. Pour through the funnel into the sealing glass jar. If they cannot, the bottle may crack or explode. The longer this ink dries on the paper, the more water resistance it has. The color of elderberries is not as bright. For every one cup of berries, before smashing them, the ratio calls for ½ teaspoon of salt and a ½ teaspoon of white vinegar. Good Morning! Using the funnel, place the berries into one of the 20-ounce glass bottles. We made a tisane of the fresh flowers of the Hibiscus syriacus in our garden and the aforementioned Hibiscus sabdariffa, pairing the sweet and tart bright red infusion with dark, salted chocolate and rosewater Turkish delight. The flowers are also eaten raw or cooked and can be added to salads or made into a tisane. Wearing gloves, strip the berries off the stems and collect for measurement. Store the fermenting bottle in a dark, room temperature space for 24 hours to ferment. To dry the berries, just pick a bunch and leave them out somewhere dry and airy in your house until they turn into these cute little scalloped and hardened discs. 2. American pokeweed (Pokeberry or Phytolacca americana), or simply pokeweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae, growing up to 2 meters (8 feet) in height. The poisonous red berries can be used to provide ink for writing - legend has it that the Declaration of Independence may have been drafted in pokeweed ink, although the final version that sits in the National Archives was done in iron-gall ink. So enjoy this ink in the short-term! Will post an update over time about it. If improperly prepared as food or medicine (or if too high a dose is used), this plant can cause horrible vomiting and diarrhea, according to my herbal books. It began to separate and have flow problems, too, the older it got, even after shaking it back together. Crush berries through a non-metal fine mesh strainer, using a pestle. The Pokeweed plant has been used for centuries as food, medicine, dye for clothing, ink for writing, and much more. I'm curious if they will brown or fade or not. Let it sit in the sun, perhaps a window, and eventually it will blacken into ink. Stir until combined well. I like them generously sprinkled with cayenne and smoked salt. As all or most of the species and varietals of hibiscus are colloquially referred to as rose mallow, it can be confusing to use common names. It's a novelty seasonal ink for me that I like to make each summer since the stuff grows in my own yard (and I'm very tolerant of weeds!). Cream will separate in hibiscus tisane, so if that texture or appearance distresses you, skip this. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The first thing I thought when I saw the topic was Pokémon. Stir well. There are people who make jelly and pie from them but I'm too chicken to do anything with the berries other than make ink with them. This is the old vinegar/salt recipe, found in a pioneer cookbook: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4086/5063638064_effa5d8b93_b.jpg. So it looks like the alum extended it, but only by a couple days. A huge, 5 fo… Use the ink like watercolor or in a liquid ink quill style pen. Seal the glass jar and label it. This is just an ink that is meant to be enjoyed in the short-term. Thanks. The vinegar/salt recipe required no tweaking. The washed leaves would then be fried in a cast-iron skillet in bacon grease for two to three minutes, the crisped bacon added to them, and then the leaves would be served with spices to taste. Stir well and allow to sit overnight. With either recipe, the most vibrant results are always obtained with a glass or metal dip pen, however. While elderberry can work as a pokeberry substitute, you may notice differences in the area of color. Phytolacca americana, also known as American pokeweed, pokeweed, poke sallet, dragonberries is a poisonous, herbaceous perennial plant in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae growing up to 8 ft (2.4m) in height. I'm interested in how people did things when they didn't have access to mass production. Pokeberry Ink Press | I'm Jen and Pokeberry Ink Press is my creative outlet. Thanks for posting! All parts of Hibiscus syriacus are edible. :roflmho: Now I really want to know about the taste (and after effects) of a Pokeberry juice and vodka shooter. By then it would be a nice brown. After the 24 hours have passed, remove the bottle from its fermentation location. To learn how to harvest the root watch: https://youtu.be/44yYl_DLWRM Sign up for a new account in our community. I take my Hibiscus sabdariffa tisane with milk as I find it softens the drying, tart, almost cranberry-like flavor. Did the recipe say anything about it turning brown? Update: Well, the pokeberry ink didn't even last a month before it began to change in the bottle, though it did stay pinker longer than the vinegar/salt recipe. Common names of this plant include – red ink plant, American nightshade, garget, redweed, inkberry, cancer Root, pigeon berry, poke root, crowberry, and chui xu shang lu. Poke weed will challenge your commitment to foraging. Do you know anything more about how they used it? Pokeberry ink is not water-resistant, so water will also remove any image or writing created using it, unless a fixative spray is applied. Weeds can be useful. Add the alum and stir well. Collect the juice, including the foam, in a non-reactive bowl, preferably glass (the foam will go down overnight.) Then store in a glass jar. Add the alum and gum Arabic. Add the liquid gum Arabic to the liquid, using ½ teaspoon to 2 teaspoons or each cup of liquid produced after straining the berries. Copyright © 2004-2021 The Fountain Pen Network As summer fades and fall begins, the pokeberry flourishes in several places, and the last of the late summer hibiscus blossoms still linger. So, Pokeweed is Poisonous . Pokeberry was once known as inkberry because of the intensity of its magenta color, which was bright enough for its juice to be used to dye fabric and as writing ink. Pokeberry Ink Recipe 2012 . Crush berries through a non-metal fine mesh strainer, using a pestle. It was not an Elderberry but a Pokeberry bush. 3.5 grams gum Arabic. It is recommended that any paintings or writing made with pokeberry ink be treated with an archival spray varnish with UV protection or a UV resistant fixative spray of some kind, unless the fading is desired. So as I've said before, this is a novelty ink to enjoy in the very short-term. Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas). The fresh berries can also be juiced and made into wine or jelly, and the whole berries can be tinctured. Since it changed rather quickly, I'm wondering if they didn't still use it after it "browned up" since they went to all that work to make it? Allow to soften and begin steeping, two to three minutes, before adding the fresh petals of the rose of Sharon/rose mallow. It's common all over the southeast. A typical recipe would be to harvest the leaves from a young plant, rinse them in cool, clean water, then bring the leaves to a rolling boil in a large pot for at least twenty minutes, then to discard the cooking water, rinse the leaves in cool water, and repeat the boiling and the rinsing at least two more times. I found the fermented version to be an even more unstable ink, though. By If so, would the picking have been the green shoots in the spring? Here are more photos of the pokeweed. 3. The trunk is large and upright with a variety of colors such as green, red, pink, and purple with a height of about 3-7 feet. It still faded dramatically (though not completely) within about 5 days. Jun 19, 2013 - Pokeberry Ink Recipe http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiberdrunk/5063638064/sizes/l/in/photostream/ Place the stainless steel pot over low to medium heat and add one ½ teaspoon of white vinegar. The Wild Pantry blog shows pictures of canned poke salat, which apparently you can't get anymore. Remove the cap or lid from the bottle and a couple of layers of cheesecloth. It dies back with the cold in the fall/winter, but comes back in the spring, getting bigger with each new season. The name ”Phytolacca” is derived from the Greek phyton ”a plant… At least the pioneer recipe did (I could see it begin to change within a month). The foliage is pleasantly sour. It grew and thrived and grew and grew until it pretty much blocked the door to the backyard. The berries ripen from July to September or so in North Carolina. and the rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus, also called the Korean rose (in South Korea), the Syrian ketmia, shrub althea, and rose mallow.). my husband told me that the tree in our yard was Elderberry,I was searching for recipes to make use of all the fruit on the tree, found the perfect recipe, but something kept bothering me. Pokeberry Ink (Pioneer Recipe) 2/3 cup ripe pokeberries 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon vinegar Crush the berries through a fine-mesh strainer. I'm hoping this recipe with the alum delays that change. Do not place the lid or the cap back onto the bottle, as the gases produced by fermentation need to be able to escape the bottle. I like your back-to-basics attitude. Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the berries to a glass bowl to cool down. Fermented Pokeberry Ink 100 ml pokeberry juice 1/8 teaspoon alum 3 grams powdered gum Arabic 1/4 cup 100-proof vodka A few whole cloves Allow the pokeberry juice to ferment in a glass jar for a month. Brown inks are fun, too. It's a novelty seasonal ink for me that I like to make each summer since the stuff grows in my own yard (and I'm very tolerant of weeds!). Past vinegar recipe ink remained pink in the dark but faded dramatically over time. White vinegar, ½ teaspoon per cup of berries, Archival spray varnish or fixative spray with UV resistance, Liquid gum Arabic ½ up to 2 tablespoons for each cup of ink (not berries; the final amount of liquid produced after straining), A masher or muddler, ideally stainless steel, to avoid staining, Pokeberries, enough to fill a 20-ounce bottle, Two glass 20-ounce bottles, with a cap or lid, Yeast, 1/4 ounce or approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons, Two fresh flowers of rose of Sharon/rose mallow (Hibiscus syriacus), A handful of dried roselle flower (Hibsicus sabdariffa). The shape of the leaves is lancet, almost round like an egg, with a length of 3 1 / 2-20 and a width of 1 1/2 – 5 inches. It's a freedom plant, or something like that, perfect for freedom-lovers everywhere. your own Pins on Pinterest It forms a large taproot, so if you cut the plant down without digging out the root, it will continue to grow back. Jul 29, 2014 - This Pin was discovered by Kovi. It'll be worth it if the color can be preserved for a longer period of time. fiberdrunk, The flowers are tart and cranberry-like and produce a bright red liquid when steeped. Just a quick short-term update. I hope I inspire you, too. Discover (and save!) I did a sunshine test on this new ink recipe. "I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." Writing samples put in the sun faded completely within about 5-6 days. But I'll test it and then post my findings later. Eating just 10 berries can be toxic to an adult. The native plant is found commonly across the United States and hosts a variety of names including pokeberry, inkberry, American nightshade, American spinach, scoke, and pigeonberry. Wearing gloves, strip the berries off the stems and collect for measurement. I did not remove the berries from the stems as most recipes instruct you to do. Note: I talked to a teacher about making this a lesson for the Social Studies classes at school, but the timing was all wrong for either studying about Native Americans or the later American history. Try at your own risk! Well, at least until tomorrow. I found I needed to strain the ink through cloth one more time. Oh yeah, and throw in that bottle of single malt. Medicinally, the plant is used to treat stomach aches and digestive complaints, respiratory soreness and rawness, raw throat, and dysmenorrhoea. The vinegar recipe also showed dramatic fading on pages stored in the dark within a year, too. It seems to work best on wool, with silk turning out a coral color. I gathered some fruit and a couple of leaves fell in my colander. It's a potentially toxic plant, so research all you can before consuming it in any way. Natural Dye From Pokeweed: This last year, I nurtured a pretty little weed in my backyard. I tried the vinegar recipe in a Platinum Marker last year, and by the third day it had eaten the plastic ink feed on the pen and gushed out-- you can find info about that in this thread.) The young leaves are harvested and boiled in two to three changes of water to make them safe(ish) for ingestion. Seal the glass jar and label it. Pokeberries, 1 cup; White vinegar, ½ teaspoon per cup of berries; Liquid gum Arabic ½ up to 2 tablespoons for each cup of ink (not berries; the final amount of liquid produced after straining) Gloves; Stainless steel pot They taste great when ripe but you don't want to eat them -- they are brown brown brown! Rinse and remove the petals from the rose of Sharon/rose mallow. Steep for three to five minutes further. By comparison, the vinegar recipe faded completely within 3 days. It seems once you add gum Arabic, alcohol and maybe even the alum, you begin a dance of effecting ink flow. How and why to make Pokeberry Tincture. Once the berries are completely cool, strain through cheesecloth and a fine mesh strainer or sieve, as many times as needed until the liquid flows smoothly and is free of particles. Place the berries into the stainless steel pot. I’m sure, though, that the author would say that the book is a source of inspiration, not a manifesto to be followed to the letter. The young leaves are eaten raw or cooked - they have a very mild flavor, and can be used in both fresh and wilted salads. I don't think this new recipe is as acidic as the vinegar recipe, however, so I have good hopes this will work. Do your homework if you plan to do anything with it other than make ink. The writing sample that has been kept in the dark still looks nice and pink. But poke weed’s in the running. fountain pen enthusiast here~. Turn the heat as low as possible and continue heating the berries for approximately 10 minutes, stirring fairly constantly burning. oh my goodness! I'll post again in several months what the writing samples stored in the dark look like. Cook the berries, mashing and muddling as needed bright pink juice is present. The vinegar recipe might be a tad more vibrant than the alum/gum Arabic one, but this may be the result of adding alcohol, which may have diluted the color a little. That recipe is posted below, too, for comparison. I may not have been much help, but I DID bump your thread up to the top.