FIT’s Natural Dye Garden, established in 2014 and located on the ninth floor rooftop of the Feldman Center, has long been an educational tool intended to demonstrate an alternative to toxic synthetic dyes. And now it’s flourishing like never before.
The garden is currently growing 28 species, including pollinator species and 21 dye species. Everything in the garden has been grown from seed, begun in the spring of this year.
The garden is completely student-run and -maintained, with some 30 students across numerous departments involved in the garden’s upkeep. Students are planting dye plants in the full color spectrum, and are making sure they are incorporating native and pollinator species to support a hyper-local urban agricultural environment. The college’s Textile Development and Marketing Department uses it as a natural dye education program.