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{"id":6862,"date":"2023-03-10T18:11:21","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T18:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wintergreenbotanicals.com\/?p=6862"},"modified":"2025-01-09T13:43:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T13:43:02","slug":"eggdye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wintergreenbotanicals.com\/2023\/03\/10\/eggdye\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturally Dyed Eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It’s easier and more beautiful than you’d expect! ~ <\/h3>\n
It\u2019s (just about) springtime! One of the first signs that the days are getting longer is that chickens \u2013 who naturally take a winter laying hiatus \u2013 resume egg production. This farm and homestead reality makes a natural segue into our springtime ritual of dyeing eggs. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs and traditions, dyeing eggs brings cheer to the dismal but warming early spring landscape with a promise of greener months to come. And it\u2019s surprisingly easy to create beautifully dyed eggs with herbs and vegetables!<\/p>\n
One of my first ever attempts to decorate eggs – using the lightest of the brown eggs from my chickens. They mostly came out well! Colors included butterfly blue pea, red beets, and turmeric.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
A Little Easter History & Springtime Tradition<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n
Dyeing eggs is a popular Easter tradition within Christian culture. Yet, this and many of our Easter rituals pre-date Christianity and have more to do with spring than Christ. These first eggs of the year symbolize a new beginning, birth or rebirth, the start of spring, and the rebirth of the sun and longer days after winter\u2019s darkness. Historians believe that dyeing eggs originated in Germanic cultures alongside the April celebration in honor of the spring goddess Ostara (also named \u0112ostre, or Easter, the namesake of the celebration). As Christianity swept across Europe, these traditions transformed to celebrate Jesus Christ\u2019s miraculous resurrection and the rebirth of the Son, folding into pre-existing Easter celebrations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
Dyeing eggs is a perfect activity to do with kiddos, but even adults without children can enjoy this simple craft. I\u2019ll admit, I grew up using artificial dyes and was skeptical that plants could come close to their cheery colors, and I assumed a lot of extra work was involved. Turns out, I was wrong. Although natural dyes take longer to develop on the eggs, the active prep time is not much different, and you likely have many of the ingredients already in your kitchen.<\/p>\n
After a variety of trial runs, I\u2019ve come up with a selection of plants that make the most impressive colors with the least amount of effort.<\/p>\n
Gather and Hard Boil Your Eggs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
White eggs will best show off the color of your natural dyes, but brown eggs work, too! This is welcome news to those of us with backyard flocks or who buy from local farms that only sell brown eggs. Dyes will show up brighter and more nuanced on white eggs, whereas brown dyed eggs will have earthier, orange-tinged (but still lovely) hues. In my test runs, most natural dyes looked nice on either color eggs, but a few \u2013 mainly hibiscus and purple cabbage \u2013 were drastically prettier on white eggs versus brown.<\/p>\n
If possible, buy your eggs a week or two before you boil them \u2013 once hard boiled, they\u2019ll peel more easily than than fresh eggs. Backyard and farm stand eggs are so fresh, they\u2019ll need more time to age in the fridge than those from the grocery store. If you forgot to allow time to age your eggs, that\u2019s ok \u2013 you can still dye them, they just won\u2019t peel as easily.<\/p>\n
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Why Are Some Eggs White and Others Brown?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n
White eggs are generally laid by chickens with white earlobes, particularly Leghorns as well as some other less common breeds. Chickens with red earlobes generally lay brown eggs, including most of our popular backyard and farmstead breeds including Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, most Sex Links, Golden Comet, and Barred Rocks. (Some specialty breeds lay blue\/teal, olive, and dark brown eggs.) The color of the eggs doesn\u2019t necessarily indicate nutritional value or how local or fresh the eggs are \u2013 simply the breed of chicken that made them. However, many local farms to opt for brown egg hens while factory farms tend to favor white egg layers. Nutritionally, if everything else was equal, white and brown eggs are identical. However, chickens raised naturally with access to pasture and sun will lay more nutritious eggs than those raised entirely indoors in stressed environments. Specifically, tests have found that pasture-raised backyard chickens laid eggs that had 25 percent more vitamin E, 75 percent more beta carotene, 20 times more omega 3 fatty acids, and half the cholesterol of a factory farmed egg.[1]<\/a> And, of course, the chickens themselves live happier, more humane lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n