With Earth Day and Easter falling so close together this year, as well as the bad news on artificial food dyes, natural Easter egg dyeing has never been more popular.

When I was younger and more ambitious, I used to spin wool and [amazon_link id=”0486226883″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]dye it naturally[/amazon_link].  That’s why it amazes me it has taken this long for me to actually try naturally dyeing Easter eggs.  Of course, I made some mistakes (like using brown eggs), but overall it was easy and fun.

I used two posts to help me figure out how to dye eggs naturally:

• The Christian Science Monitor: Celebrate Earth Day with natural Easter egg dyes
• Crunchy Domestic Goddess: How to dye Easter eggs naturally – a tutorial

I was able to use food headed to the compost pile for our dyes, with the exception of the turmeric.  I followed this basic recipe:

1. Hard boil eggs by bringing to boil in a pot covered by an inch of water. Turn off  heat, cover, and let sit for 18 minutes.
2. Combine two tablespoons of dye source with one cup water. Simmer for 20 minutes
3. Strain dye, then add two tablespoons white vinegar to each cup of dye.
4. Place egg in a ceramic mug, fill cup until it covers egg by one inch, let sit at least one hour.

I used blueberries and turmeric in accordance to the above recipe, but for the shredded beets, I just wong the proportions.  I was surprised to find the blueberries and red beets yielded pretty much the same color.

Next year, I will experiment with actually cooking the eggs in the dye mixture.  I think the results would be better.  I can’t really say honestly how well the dyes worked, as I used brown eggs, but at least I don’t have to worry about artificial colors leaching into the eggs that my children consume.

Unfortunately, our eggs did not turn out. It was quite a disappointment.  Perhaps it was the brown eggs, perhaps it was the recipe.  The turmeric was the most successful, and none of the other dyes seemed to adhere to the eggs.  Not sure what I did wrong, but I’ll try again next year.