Colouring Easter eggs using natural materials

Colouring Easter eggs is a traditional Easter activity. If you don't fancy using artificial colours, you can simply colour the eggs with natural materials.

The following plants work very well:                                    

• green colouring: spinach, parsley, St. John's wort, red cabbage (produces turquoise colour)                      
• blue colouring: blueberries                                                                                                                               
• yellow colouring: camomile, saffron, apple tree leaves                                                                                   
• orange colouring: carrots                                                                                                                                 
• red colouring: beetroot                                                                                                                                      
• brown colouring: red onion skins, coffee, tea

Make a dye out of the different plants. Break up or grate larger parts of plants, or follow the following rules of thumb for the various different ingredients:                                                                                                  

• vegetables: 500g in 2 litres of water, no soaking necessary, boil for 35 minutes
• flowers, leaves and berries: 30 to 100g in 2 litres of water, leave to soak for a few hours, boil for 35 to 60 minutes
• coffee and tea: 30 to 50g in 2 litres of water, no soaking necessary, boil for 25 to 30 minutes

Hard-boil the eggs. Eggs with a white shell are better, as the colour produced using natural materials is never as strong as when using artificial materials. Colouring eggs is best done with eggs from free-range hens – the shell is harder, the egg healthier and it's a better choice in general. You'll find quality-controlled free-range eggs from 'Red Rooster' on these farms.

Next, place the eggs in the ready-prepared dye for around half an hour. Turn the eggs frequently so that the colour is not just on one side. You can leave them for a shorter length of time too, but the colour will not be so intense.

Finally, leave the eggs to dry on a tea towel and rub with bacon rind to give them a nice sheen.

If you'd like to decorate your eggs, use a sharp object to scratch the surface. This will simply scratch away the top layer of colour.

Tip:  
You can use parsley, lemon balm or ivy to make great decorations. Simply moisten the leaves and place on the egg shell. Put a pair of tights over the eggs and leaves, bind tightly (so that the leaves stay in place) and put in the dye.