It's Pokeberry Season!

August to September is prime picking for pokeberries.

What are pokeberries? They come from the pokeweed plant, which is an invasive species and usually considered a nuisance or a weed (although I grow them in my yard). You've likely seen them in parks, woodlands, abandoned alleys, or maybe near some train tracks. Pokeweed grows pretty tall and has unremarkable green leaves, but the most striking part of this plant is the bright pink/purple stems that are growing from the plant. In my opinion, the green-pink contrast is quite beautiful. The plant grows these long stems of small white flowers which ripen into berries that go from green to almost black. They're poisonous so don't try to eat them, although birds seem to be unaffected and love them.

Pokeberry plant in my backyard.

Okay, so if they're poisonous why do we care? Similar to the pink-purple vibrant plant stalks, the berries of this plant produce the most vibrant pink-purple juice that is perfect for watercolor painting or using as an ink or dye. I've been harvesting pokeberries for several years for the purposes of painting with it. It's an incredibly bright natural ink or watercolor, and it's fun to be able to get my materials from nature. I want to walk you through how I make this into a solid watercolor paint. There are several pokeberry ink recipes and tutorials I've found online so this is nothing new, but this year I decided to experiment with dehydrating the ink so I can more easily transport this with me when I'm painting on the go.

DIY Pokeberry Watercolor Paint

Supplies:

-mortar and pestle

-gloves

-cheesecloth

-ripe pokeberries (like 2 cups of them at least)

-plastic wrap

-2 bowls

-rubber band

-small containers, preferrably ones with lids or tins that can be closed

-dehydrator

-scissors (optional)

Harvest the ripe pokeberry stalks, preferably using gloves. This is where the scissors come in handy because ripping the stalks from the plants can be quite difficult. Most or all of the berries on the stalks should be black/dark purple.

Harvested pokeberries.

Take the pokeberries off of the stalks and place into a bowl, still using gloves (I failed at the glove part). Pokeberry ink can be absorbed through your skin and isn't good for you. Make sure no plant matter or leaves get into your bowl or take them out once you're finished.

You can throw these stalks away but aren't they pretty?

The berry collection.

Use your pestle to crush the berries in the bowl.

You can already see the pink coloration.

Take your cheesecloth and spread it in the bottom of your second bowl. Pour the crushed pokeberries on top. Tie the cheesecloth at the top or secure a rubber band on the top. Squeeze the cheesecloth to dispense the pokeberry ink while straining out the seeds.

Once you have the pokeberry juice strained, take the small containers you've chosen to store your pokeberry watercolor in. Line the bottoms with plastic wrap and pour the ink into the containers. Place in your dehydrator for 1-2 days until dry to the touch. And that's it.

I'm messy and didn't use gloves, ok?

Testing out the final product.

More pokeberry doodles.

Pokeberry is UV-sensitive, which means that over the course of a couple months or years, if exposed to the sun, it will turn golden brown and lose the vibrancy of the pink-purple. That's why I recommend keeping the watercolors in a closed container. Dehydrating the ink does not cause any loss of coloration.

I have fun discovering new places to harvest this berry every year. I always love to create new paintings with this vibrant natural color, and now it's a little bit easier for me to store it.