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colored cotton growing regions in Peru


bdmowers

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Has anyone been to any of the colored cotton growing regions in Peru?  I`m interested in obtaining fiber and seeds that is deep brown or green, blues, reds and yellows and want to know how to go about finding this fiber either from the Lambayesque or Arequipa regions.

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Well, this thread sent me down a rabbit hole. Interesting stuff! This may be the lady to contact. We need many more like her.

https://civileats.com/2018/08/30/mee-the-fanatic-breeding-colored-cotton-growing-heirloom-wheat-and-building-soil-carbon/

https://www.fibershed.com/2015/10/10/colored-cotton/

There is a link to her website which contains her contact information in the second link that I posted.

 

 

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I have not gone to those areas in Peru but they grow green and brown cotton in Mexico and Guatemala. The brown cotton is called coyutche or coyotchi and it is grown in Chiapas in the Pantelho area and in Oaxaca and Guerrero , I do not know about other areas . . The green cotton is grown in Guerrero by the Amusgos, may have it in Oaxaca as well, on the border with Guerrero as they are Amusgos as well and use it in their hupiles.

One note, a friend of mine gave seeds of green cotton to weavers in San Mateo del Mar to grown the the green cotton came out brown so the soil may have something to do with t.  also gave green cotton seeds to a frend n Pantelho and it came out brown s well.

When I was visitng villages around lake Atitlan some of the weavers told me that gren cotton was grown industrally n Guatemala.. I did not know about other color cotton then so I did not ask but you could look into it.

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2 hours ago, Willie said:

They used used grow the tan and green in the Phoenix Az area...not sure if they still do but might be easier for someone to mule them in to you by car.

They still do.  I have those and have been working with them for 40 years.  I`ve worked with all the Peruvian derivatives available in the US.  But now I have a hankering for the real thing from where the seeds they use in the States came from.  The originals, the deep colors from the jungles of Peru.  Thanks for your suggestion.

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1 hour ago, Ferret said:

Well, this thread sent me down a rabbit hole. Interesting stuff! This may be the lady to contact. We need many more like her.

https://civileats.com/2018/08/30/mee-the-fanatic-breeding-colored-cotton-growing-heirloom-wheat-and-building-soil-carbon/

https://www.fibershed.com/2015/10/10/colored-cotton/

There is a link to her website which contains her contact information in the second link that I posted.

 

 

Yes, I know her. I was one of the original testers for her.  I`m looking for the Mother Lode where Sally`s seeds came from. I`ll have to go to Peru for what I want.

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58 minutes ago, bmh said:

I have not gone to those areas in Peru but they grow green and brown cotton in Mexico and Guatemala. The brown cotton is called coyutche or coyotchi and it is grown in Chiapas in the Pantelho area and in Oaxaca and Guerrero , I do not know about other areas . . The green cotton is grown in Guerrero by the Amusgos, may have it in Oaxaca as well, on the border with Guerrero as they are Amusgos as well and use it in their hupiles.

One note, a friend of mine gave seeds of green cotton to weavers in San Mateo del Mar to grown the the green cotton came out brown so the soil may have something to do with t.  also gave green cotton seeds to a frend n Pantelho and it came out brown s well.

When I was visitng villages around lake Atitlan some of the weavers told me that gren cotton was grown industrally n Guatemala.. I did not know about other color cotton then so I did not ask but you could look into it.

I know those cottons well.   (Been at this for 40 years.) I`ve grown their cottons from their seeds, spun it, wove it.  I have plants here on my property from Guerrero. Some of the cooperatives from Guerrero have been to the Feria.  Brown and green cotton is common but the blue, red, yellow can only be found in the mountains of Peru.  Thank you for your suggestions,  bmh.

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1 hour ago, bmh said:

Then you next step is to order seeds from Peru.. 

Just check out this thread.. according to this Dr. tblue, yello and another color do not exist. at this time.. 2016

http://leovanu.blogspot.com/2016/08/el-algodon-nativo-peruano.html

Unfortunately, I have seen no source for ordering seeds from Peru.  Of course, that would be the easy way to obtain fiber from there.   Dr. Nunez says there are many artisans in Morrope that work with the colored cotton but lists no contacts. There are many reports and pictures as well as garments of blue, red and yellow cotton.  At least, I`m willing to go to Peru and see what I can find!  Will let you know when I get back.

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Dr. Vasquez not Nuñez, that is his mother´s name says that black, yellow and blue have not been found when they search for it so if they are  garments of these colors they are probably dyed  cottons.. There are many knock offs in Peru..   I went there to look at natural dyes for wool , starting with alpaca and vicunya there are many rip offs and it gets worse with natural dyes.. 

If Dr, Vasquez says that black, yellow and blue did not exist as of 2006 , chances are that they do not exist...get the seeds from the farmers and you will be sure that way. 

 

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14 hours ago, bdmowers said:

Has anyone been to any of the colored cotton growing regions in Peru?  I`m interested in obtaining fiber and seeds that is deep brown or green, blues, reds and yellows and want to know how to go about finding this fiber either from the Lambayesque or Arequipa regions.

65 years ago while playing in a sharecropper's cabin in Arkansas I found brown cotton with seeds in the bols. I did some research and discovered it was "coton jaune" share cropper's cotton. I planted and gres several plants.  It was cotton that share croppers and before them slaves had planted in garden plots the land owner had designated for their use. They were allowed to grow and spin or sell that cotton. Because it was brown the land owner never thought they had stolen his cotton. This cotton was planted in small plots that the owner allowed slaves and later share croppers to plant vegetables in. It grew in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas in small plots and fence rows when I was a kid. I now know it was also called Acadian cotton.

https://www.acadianbrowncotton.com/

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Brown is the most comon of the colored cotton.. I wonder wy they called it jaune since that s yellow and not brown which is brun or marron.. It s also the most comon n Mexco .. Dr, Vasquez says that the brown cotton from Peru was exported up north.. but who knows..Mexco , I read had lots of dffernt color cotton but it all went extnct except for the brown and green.Many of the artisans I know do not like to work with green cotton because they find it more difficult to handle so n a group there are  few women who want to work it and garment with green cotton always take longer to get if you order a bunch for that reason.

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1 hour ago, geeser said:

65 years ago while playing in a sharecropper's cabin in Arkansas I found brown cotton with seeds in the bols. I did some research and discovered it was "coton jaune" share cropper's cotton. I planted and gres several plants.  It was cotton that share croppers and before them slaves had planted in garden plots the land owner had designated for their use. They were allowed to grow and spin or sell that cotton. Because it was brown the land owner never thought they had stolen his cotton. This cotton was planted in small plots that the owner allowed slaves and later share croppers to plant vegetables in. It grew in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas in small plots and fence rows when I was a kid. I now know it was also called Acadian cotton.

https://www.acadianbrowncotton.com/

This cotton is still being grown and seed being sold in the south.   I am growing one variety, Arizona green, here.  A beautiful little green,  it will wind up in a shirt or two and in scarves for sale.  Acadian cotton is a different variety from the others grown in the south.  The main reason the plantation owners let the slaves grow colored cotton is that the they didn`t consider the colored cotton valuable.

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56 minutes ago, bmh said:

Brown is the most comon of the colored cotton.. I wonder wy they called it jaune since that s yellow and not brown which is brun or marron.. It s also the most comon n Mexco .. Dr, Vasquez says that the brown cotton from Peru was exported up north.. but who knows..Mexco , I read had lots of dffernt color cotton but it all went extnct except for the brown and green.Many of the artisans I know do not like to work with green cotton because they find it more difficult to handle so n a group there are  few women who want to work it and garment with green cotton always take longer to get if you order a bunch for that reason.

The brown cotton from Peru, gossypium barbadense, was indeed brought to the States and was the basis of all the long-stapled brown cottons now grown mostly in Arizona and Texas.  Peruvian white cottons were the basis of all the long-stapled white cottons, like Pima cotton, Egyptian, and Sea Island, the finest of the cottons. However, native Mexican cotton, gossypium hirsutum, is the basis of the world-wide cotton industry, comprising 95% of the cottons now grown for clothing.  Sea Island was tried in the Sea Islands off Georgia and then on the east coast of the US but were destroyed by weevils. It is now only grown in the West Indies where it was originally discovered.

Most green and brown cottons are indeed difficult to work with because their fibers are so short, near to 1/2".  But you get used to it and the result is so spectacular.  In my experience, green cotton is a bit easier to work with than the browns being that it is a tiny bit longer.

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8 hours ago, bmh said:

Interesting because the women   ,we  deal with do not like to work with the green cotton and are ok with the brown..They make spectacular colors with the green cotton but only a few of them work it.

That is interesting.  I haven`t found green different in the spinning from brown. Perhaps there is some other part of the work with green that is difficult.  

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I do not know if it is in the spinning or in the weaving or sorting out the various tones of green  but orders are delayed when there is a lot of green because I was told that there are  less women who want to work with it.

That is the reason I was given by Margarita the head of the group but of course who knows if that is the real reason..I would think there is less green cotton than brown cotton and II do not know how they allocate the cotton , if less people grow it maybe less women work with it.. who knows, sometimes things get lost as their Spanish can be a literal translation from their language or way of thinking  and it does not translate well.

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11 hours ago, bmh said:

I do not know if it is in the spinning or in the weaving or sorting out the various tones of green  but orders are delayed when there is a lot of green because I was told that there are  less women who want to work with it.

That is the reason I was given by Margarita the head of the group but of course who knows if that is the real reason..I would think there is less green cotton than brown cotton and II do not know how they allocate the cotton , if less people grow it maybe less women work with it.. who knows, sometimes things get lost as their Spanish can be a literal translation from their language or way of thinking  and it does not translate well.

Is this a group of women in Guerrero, a cooperative, and what is your role with them?  What do  you produce?

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sales....and get them contacts who buy-By the way , they are in Tlaquepaque this week at Del Corazon de la Tierra along with  other artisans from Chiapas-

Cecilia Perez from Pantelhó Chiapas will also be ther eand she works with coyuchei and white cotton and natural dyes.She was at the feria last year and will be there again this year.

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