![]() ![]() Jen Toy of Test Plot, an organization that partnered with Kingery and Berkowitz and helps people restore biodiversity to their neighborhoods, said “it’s really about broadening what we mean by land care, and getting other folks who might not see themselves as like environmentalists interested.” “One public space, one whole neighborhood, returned to having healthy, functional native ecology,” Berkowitz said after the harvest in the working-class neighborhood of El Sereno in east L.A. Underneath the towering stalks of mustard, which can grow more more than 8-feet (2.4 meters) tall, blue lupine, poppies and other native plants were fighting to reach sunlight. ![]() “Visually we watched a whole hill of a park be denuded of mustard, which was a very hopeful thing,” she said. She said her work with Kingery showed the possibilities of what can happen if more people become aware of its uses. “This is an abundant art supply that is all around us.” Berkowitz said. She has offered classes along with a chef who crafts pesto from the mustard greens and mashes the flowers into dressing. “The idea of something being utilized that is growing out of the sidewalk is a pretty cool concept.”Īrtist Erin Berkowitz of Berbo Studio makes dyes from invasive species, including the dye for Kingery’s clothing line. “We don’t want to rip a bunch of plants out of the ground for no reason,” Kingery said. And, he added, to get the hues that he wants requires a lot of mustard, which in this context is a good thing. “And yes, there seems in sheer volume, if you zoom out a bit, that there could be enough wild mustard here to make salads and dyed sweatshirts for everyone in the United States.”īut when Kingery sees native plants sprouting in plots that have been cleared, it makes it all worth it, he said. “Physically, it’s been demanding,” Kingery said. Hillsides jutting up from urban landscapes glowed. State and local agencies remove mustard from managed lands, but it’s spread to places beyond.Īt its peak bloom this spring, undulating swaths of yellow lined freeways. Years of wildfires also created more spaces for the plant that thrives in disturbed lands. But its presence exploded this year after a record amount of rainfall from December to April. The plant from Eurasia was first brought to California in the 1700s - it has been found in the adobe bricks of missions. They have continued, removing more than a 100 pounds (45 kilograms) a week ever since, mostly from public land in Los Angeles.Įven that amount is only nipping at the problem, Kingery said. The material came from the first harvest when Kingery said his team initially harvested about 450 pounds (204 kilograms) to make the dye. The Olderbrother store in Los Angeles is decorated with a huge panel of the plant’s stalks, leaves and flowers that were woven on a loom by designer Cecilia Bordarampe. Other photos show the clearing of the land. On the website for his company, Olderbrother, a model embraces the uprooted weed while donning a mustard-dyed jacket. Kingery’s line, aptly named “Pervasive Bloom,” features sweatshirts, pants, tank tops and other items dyed naturally using mustard. There have been workshops and instruction guides on how to turn it into paper, fertilizer and a spicy version of the well-known condiment by the same name. Kingery is part of a growing group of artists, designers and chefs, who are tackling the invasion by harvesting the plant to use in everything from dyes to pesto.įoragers have led edible hikes to pick its peppery flower and munch on its leaves. There are numerous kinds of wild mustards in California, but black mustard or Brassica nigra is considered among the most pervasive. Its leaves and roots inhibit the growth of other species, creating a mono-thicket that spreads rapidly. Mustard also smothers native plants, transforming the landscape. ![]() ![]() Its stalks can act as fire ladders, causing flames to climb. As temperatures warm it is starting to die, making it tinder for wildfires in a state that has been ravaged by blazes. Mustard was among the most prominent of wild flowering plants that seemingly popped up everywhere in California this spring. SAN DIEGO (AP) - While ripping out yellow blooms blanketing hillsides in Los Angeles, Max Kingery has been questioned about his fervor for killing flowers.īut the clothing designer who used the plants to dye his spring and summer lines said he takes no offense at being accused of pillaging this part of California’s “superbloom.” Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to raise awareness about a destructive flower that proliferated in the state following an unusually wet winter: wild black mustard. ![]()
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