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indigo plant seeds for sale Ossabaw Indigo (Sea Island Indigo) – Experimental Farm Network Seed StoreIndigofera suffruticosa Origin: Ossabaw Island, Georgia Improvement status: Feral Seeds per packet: ~35 seeds (roughly 25 pods) BOTANICAL SAMPLE NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Annual or tender perennial It's an honor and a privilege to be offering these seeds. Because of Ossabaw Indigo's long and deep history, much of the reality of this plant's story will never be known. The most tragic details have been obscured by the legacy of brutal
Indigofera suffruticosa
Origin: Ossabaw Island, Georgia
Improvement status: Feral
Seeds per packet: ~35 seeds (roughly 25 pods)
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Annual or tender perennial
It's an honor and a privilege to be offering these seeds. Because of Ossabaw Indigo's long and deep history, much of the reality of this plant's story will never be known. The most tragic details have been obscured by the legacy of brutal enslavement and oppression of African people. But there is much we can infer — and what we do know speaks of deep resilience of both plants and human beings.
The Sea Islands line the southeastern US coast from northern Florida to South Carolina. European colonization in the 1600s led to the violent expulsion of the region's indigenous people — including the Guale, Mocama, and Creek peoples — whose communities were swiftly replaced with massive plantations producing primarily rice and cotton with the forced labor of untold numbers of enslaved people. We know that slavery in the Sea Islands was part of a horrifying system of organized terror in which families were torn apart and people were treated worse than animals — and that this system generated wealth beyond belief for the white families who directed it using brutal violence and coercion. We also know that their descendants still benefit from all that wealth and that the white supremacist power-structure instituted during the days of slavery did not disappear with the abolition of slavery itself. Indeed, it persists in various manifestations to this day.
—
In the mid-1700s, Eliza Lucas — the 16-year-old daughter of a newly arrived British colonial officer — was put in charge of dozens of enslaved people and hundreds of acres. She is credited with launching the indigo industry in the Southeast (and, shamefully, still widely viewed as a symbol of female empowerment, despite the terrible cruelty inherent to her business). With seeds sent by her father from the Caribbean (where she was raised), and no doubt with the expertise of the African people her family kept in bondage (some of whom may well have had experience with indigo production in Africa), the Lucas family became incredibly wealthy supplying vivid blue dye to buyers in Great Britain.
The Revolutionary War led to the demise of the indigo industry in the Sea Islands after just a few decades, as the enslavers lost access to their main market. Rice and cotton once again predominated. During this time, many of the white people who claimed ownership of the islands actually lived on the mainland — unwilling to expose themselves to the isolation, malaria, and occasional hurricanes that mark life on barrier islands in the region — so this relative isolation meant that the African and African-descended people forced to work on the islands were able to maintain much more of their ancestral traditions than enslaved peoples elsewhere in North America. Eventually, the Civil War led white slavers to abandon their plantations completely for many years.
During the Union occupation of the islands and especially following the Emancipation Proclamation, the formerly enslaved people of the Sea Islands largely managed their own affairs. There were high hopes at the time that they would be granted ownership of the land — which would have provided some measure of justice and recompense for their decades in chains — but the government refused to enact such a program, and most of the white landowners eventually resumed control of the land. The formerly enslaved families then did what most of their cousins across the Southeast did: continued living on the land where they had been enslaved, eking out a living as sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and laborers.
But their relative isolation continued, and that in turn led to the ongoing flourishing of what is known today as Gullah-Geechee culture. Gullah language — which combines English and a multitude of African languages, including Menda, Vai, and Fulani — is still spoken by a few hundred remaining native speakers, plus a few thousand others. It is the only surviving African creole language in the United States. Beyond the linguistic connection to Africa, Gullah-Geechee cultural practices, including distinctive arts and crafts, traditional farming and fishing techniques, music, religious belief systems, rice-based foodways, and story-telling traditions, are all marked by clear West and Central African influences.
—
Ossabaw Island is the third largest of Georgia's coastal islands. With no road or causeway to the island, it escaped much of the development of the other islands (some of which have become opulent summer playgrounds for the rich and well-connected). Ossabaw was used by a handful of tenant-farmers through the early part of the 20th century, but by 1916 the whole of the island was owned by one man who used it as a hunting retreat (no doubt a favored target was the now-rare Ossabaw Island Hog, descended from a Canary Islands breed brought to the island by early Spanish colonists or adventurists). In 1924, it was sold to a wealthy Michigan couple from Grosse Pointe who used it as a winter home. Thankfully, in 1961, not long after ownership had passed to their daughter, Eleanor "Sandy" Torrey West and a brother, Mrs. West and her husband Clifford created the Ossabaw Foundation and the Ossabaw Island Project. The island soon became an artistic, scientific, and cultural retreat center. Luminaries including Ralph Ellison, Aaron Copeland, and Margaret Atwood are known to have spent time enjoying its natural beauty and solitude. In 1978, no longer able to afford to manage the operation, Sandy West and her brother's children negotiated a landmark agreement to sell the island (for half of its appraised value) to the State of Georgia as a permanent Heritage Preserve. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources technically controls it now, but the Ossabaw Foundation has a contract to maintain day-to-day management of the island, regulating access and use of historic areas.
In 2007, the Foundation's longtime manager of Ossabaw, the late Jim Bitler, realized that a patch of unassuming leguminous plants with small orange flowers was actually a type of indigo. He began growing some of the plants, and soon shared his discovery with a natural dye enthusiast named Donna Hardy, who further spread the news of this fascinating find and began offering workshops and working to create an artisanal Sea Island indigo industry to benefit the local community. Donna has also figured out the best ways to process the fresh leaves into vivid blue pigment. Researchers from Clemson University got involved as well, and it was quickly realized that the species of indigo growing on Ossabaw was not the common indigo (an African species known as Indigofera tinctoria), but rather a species commonly known as "Guatemalan Indigo" (Indigofera suffruticosa). Used by Central American peoples to create an especially vivid blue color, the pigment produced by this species is known as "Mayan Blue."
It's assumed by most everyone involved with Ossabaw indigo these days that this was the species cultivated on Ossabaw in the 1700s, and that it managed to escape cultivation and naturalize in the island's mild climate. We assumed this for a while ourselves too, but recently learned that Indigofera suffruticosa is considered a native species not only in Central America but all along the coast of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean to as far north as North Carolina (and as far south as Argentina, believe it or not). The populations are rather disjunct, based on county reports listed on the USDA-NRCS's PLANTS Database, so it's entirely possible that each report represents another example of feral "Guatemalan Indigo," and that the species didn't reach the Carolinas until the past few centuries. But it actually seems just as likely that the plant was already on Ossabaw when Eliza Lucas arrived — brought there by birds or tides — and that the seeds she started with (known to have been sent by her father from the Caribbean) were the more commonly grown Indigofera tinctoria, or "true indigo," which didn't naturalize as readily (though is also found in the Carolinas). We'll likely never know anything close to the full story of this plant. But in any event, that this largely tropical species should have a range extending into the Carolinas is an impressive sign of its resilience and fortitude.
—
We were given our initial seed stock by Dr. David Shields, noted scholar, author, Southern foodways expert, and University of South Carolina professor. He told Nate they were grown on Daufuskie Island, SC. We figured it would require a very long season, so weren't optimistic about producing seeds in New Jersey, but we got a bumper crop the first time we tried it — spring-planted plants begin flowering for us in June — with enough seed produced in a 20 foot row to offer it in the catalog the following winter. Ossabaw Indigo has since become widely grown, and in the process it's managed to demonstrate an ability to grow well and even produce seeds as far north as New England. It's reseeded a few times for us in New Jersey — with little plants popping up far later than I would start them and that need attention from us in order to beat their weedy plant neighbors in daily competition — but I expect it probably could only naturalize if grown in a place with large patches of ground that lack weed pressure.
If anyone of Gullah-Geechee heritage would like to grow these seeds, please get in touch with us. We will keep some seeds in reserve and would be happy to send them to you at no charge. We will also be donating 25% of the cost of these packets to a Gullah-Geechee community organization (in consultation with Gullah-Geechee friends).
GROWING TIPS: Start indoors a few weeks before last frost, and plant out once all danger of frost has passed. Seeds should be planted half an inch deep. Seedlings don't mind being crowded, but ultimately plants should be spaced out by at least 8 inches. In New Jersey the tallest grew almost four feet during the season. They began flowering in June and were still flowering by the time frosts arrived in fall. We are selling seeds still in their pods, each of which contains between zero and four viable seeds. We recommend breaking up the pods before planting, but it's probably not required.
NOTE: Due to the scarcity of seed, we decided not to sacrifice the amount of seed required for a full germination test, but the small sample size we tested did result in some germination, so we are confident you will get some plants. If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, please contact us.
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4.2 ★★★★★
Based on 18 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 3
I love indie authors
Format: Kindle
Let me preface this by saying—writing a book is HARD! Coming up with characters so real that they take on a life of their own, building an entire world, the political/magic system. Designing all of this is no easy feat.
That being said.
This book had so. Much. Potential. I was so excited to read this book, and I plan to finish it for the sake of finishing it. But. At this point, I would have set I’d aside as a DNF. The book could have benefited from some form of a developmental editor, or an in depth beta reader. I will say this. Within 5 chapters, there are so many… phrases that I’ve highlight that I’ve latched onto. Phrases about books and storms that were written BEAUTIFULLY! So, bravo Linton for hitting the nail on the head as to why readers disappear like they do!
However, 5 chapters in and I can already guess where a majority of the story is going. But that’s also because I read like a mad-woman and have read this particular type of story, many different ways. Enemies to lovers where the FMC isn’t who she thinks she is. I am all about supporting indie authors. BUT. I also feel like criticism should be constructive, and not degrading. So if I could give this book a 4 1/2, strictly because I know the work the author put into this, I would. So if you’re looking for an easy read with characters that aren’t hard to follow, look no further! They are easy to love and easy to care for. One of the biggest issues they lacked, to me, was depth and plausible reactions to their situations. JD, you have done BEAUTIFULLY writing this book. I applaud and will continue to buy your books in the future. My BIGGEST recommendation is to definitely hire some form of an editor for any upcoming books. Or in turn, I will be happy to beta read for you. Should my opinion change of the book by the time I finish, I will happily get on here and say I was wrong, delete this review and post a different one. Until then…
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Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2022
★★★★★ 5
this book set my soul ablaze! <3
Format: Paperback, Format: Paperback
"i had never really cared about the weather before, but now, clear skies meant everything to me, and i was grateful to see another calm morning."
this book. this book!
i loved the last storm so much. the writing style. the descriptions. the world-building. the characters. the plot twists. the tropes. the sexual tension. the—everything. everything was magic.
the last storm follows our two main characters, ara and rogue, giving us dual POV from both characters (which i loved, btw). ara, a human girl who has been locked away in her father’s estate most of her life, just wants to see the world. all she dreams of is seeing what else is out there. but when her father announces her engagement, she knows that dream will become nothing more than just that—a dream.
rogue, the fae king, is tired of the attacks being rained down on his people. in hopes of finding out the human king adon’s secrets, rogue infiltrates auryna’s borders. in his last resort to gain information, he visits the local pub. to his surprise, the general’s precious only child is sitting at the bar, drink round after round of mead. now he just needs to figure out how to take her without anyone noticing.
first and foremost, let’s talk about the endless list of my favorite tropes and aspects that this book had.
›› enemies to lovers
›› fated mates
›› one bed
›› the chosen one
›› elemental magic
›› actually good and shocking plot twists!!!
›› badass female lead
›› morally-grey love interest
›› fae/human war
›› force proximity
›› touch her and die
›› who did this to you?
›› captor/captive
›› praise k!nk (panting profusely)
“you are entirely the opposite of everything that i am, and i would gladly wear your shackles if it meant i could have you.”
it’s been a long while since i read a book i liked this much. but i just loved this book. it set my soul ablaze. thank you to the author for writing this beautiful story and for blessing me with an eARC! i loved it so much that i immediately bought the paperback upon release!
every aspect of this book was just beautiful. i was blown away by the way the world was described, the way feelings were portrayed, the way the elements were used in the fae’s magic. it just—AHHH! i just absolutely adored it all. i cannot wait for the second book to release next year!
also the way he calls her “little storm” sets my heart on fire.
this was a fast-paced read and if you are a lover of acotar, fbaa, deal with the elf king, or any other similar books, then please stop everything you’re doing and read this book right now. you won’t regret it.
thank you again, jd linton, for giving me the privilege of reading your arc and for blessing this world with the world you created. <3
"something about him pulled me in, like a moth to a flame, and it felt as if i was just waiting for the inevitable burn that came with flying too close to the fire."
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Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2022
★★★★★ 4
Fun, both heartwarming and heartbreaking
Format: Kindle
Only my second first person written selection, I am still getting used to that aspect, but unlike my first, I enjoyed that the story was told through both MCs. A great enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fated love etc, that resonated to me. There were some small twists that I could see coming, but also a few that I didn’t quite see until the characters were also seeing. Personally, I am more interested in the story than the spice, but with that said, it was well seasoned! I am kind of new to the spice world so I can’t say for sure how this would rate, but it definitely had some heat. I am very glad I happened across this author, and I do plan on also reading the next book….if nothing else, just to see for myself the “transformation” of the characters I’ve grown to love!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2024
★★★★★ 5
😍😍 BEST DEBUT NOVEL EVER
Format: Paperback
I’m having trouble finding accurate words to describe the way this book made me feel, but I am going to do my best.
To start off with basic elements, the character and world building are phenomenal. I feel a strong bond to not only the two main characters, Ara and Rogue, but to each and every character introduced throughout the book. The author did a stellar job of giving each of them unique personhood. All of the scenes are beautifully described. So much so that throughout the entirety of the book, I could see every scene: the towns, the castles, the meadows, the landscape. I have had difficulty with this and with distinguishing between outlying characters while reading in the past, but I did not have to think to remember details of world or character building because they flowed naturally within the story and were described well. I have read book series before that made me want to be a part of that world, but I actually felt like I got to step into Auryna and Ravaryn!
The plot twists!! Although this is not a suspense novel, it still had me on a rollercoaster of emotions and on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I haven’t cried actual tears over a book since I was in high school (and I’ve read a LOT). This book finally broke the floodgates in the final few chapters. Multiple times. And we love a good cliffhanger. It truly made me FEEL.
THE SPICE is a solid 3.5/5. Some of the scenes had me flushed, some had me taking notes, some just had my jaw slack and my mouth hanging open. Bravo, JD Linton, bravo.
The relationships: friendships, family, romantic, ALL of the relationships in this book have so much meaning. The author does a great job at making you feel the love, the anger, the peace, the frustrations, the safety, the familiarity, etc. between the characters.
Ara and Rogue. I can not say enough and I also do not want to say too much. Just know that I feel like I know them both, to their core. I know what their childhood looks likes, their darkest moments, their biggest fears, their dreams and passions, what they want in life… The POV switches were seamless. I am so happy this author decided to let us see from both sets of eyes.
I can not wait for book two after that cliffhanger. And there is SO much potential for at least one prequel, I can’t wait to see where this author goes! I hope this series continues and flourishes. Fingers crossed!
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Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2022
★★★★★ 5
Amazing!
Format: Kindle, Format: Kindle
This book was phenomenal, I devoured it within a few days! For this being a debut novel, it is fantastic and I would’ve thought the author was a seasoned author. I have zero complaints about this book.
Let me start by saying that the world building was phenomenal. I could picture everything in my head because of how detailed it was — that’s how good it was written. And I absolutely love the “captive/captor” trope so much, it’s become one of my favorite tropes, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book had that.
I loved the banter between Rogue and Ara — they’re both snarky and witty, plus with the romantic tension, it made the dialogue that much better. Speaking of romantic tension, yes there is spice but not so much of it that it overrides the plot, which I loved. For me, this would probably be on the 3/5 level of spice.
This book had a ton of plot twists and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2024