Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan digs in to Natural Dye Initiative

Originally Published
2019/07/03

Parks & People was thrilled to welcome Maryland’s First Lady Yumi Hogan to see the progression of the Baltimore Natural Dye Initiative, a natural dye farm and processing site on our campus on Friday, June 28.

The First Lady toured rows of marigolds, black-eyed Susans, and more which will serve as raw material for educational, artistic and commercial applications by fiber students at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

She witnessed dyeing demonstrations that will be a part of our summer youth programs and even got down in the dirt with our farmers in order to inspect and weed some indigo plants.

Mrs. Hogan said she was impressed by how the operation has come to life since her last visit in March and she expressed interest in coming back to the farm in August to assist in harvesting which is set to begin in the second week of July.

The initiative is made possible by support from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development which provided funding through the Baltimore Regional Neighborhoods Initiative, funding from the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corp. (MARBIDCO) and the Baltimore Development Corp, plus partners the Maryland Department of Commerce through the Maryland State Arts Council, MICA, and many others.

Photo credits: Executive Office of the Governor

Below is a map detailing what and where is growing in our gardens: