My natural dye experiments have, so far, been mixed. Madder, which takes years to grow a decent amount of root, involved much chopping, stirring and faffing over a tiny flame. I did get colour, but not the deep red I was hoping for. More a sort of peachy coral. Indigo has been very frustrating, yielding only duck egg blues and not the deep rich indigo I wanted. Today, I am doing an anthemis dyebath - have already tried a small experimental vat, but, tbh, I am not that fussed about yellow dyes (and I have a large amount of onion skins as fallback). The kitchen is distinctly whiffy and I have blue hands.
Have been overhauling the spinning wheel because pre-spun yarn is spendy - around £7 for 100grammes, whereas I can buy carded wool tops for a third of that, and spin up some decent blends of wool.
I have also had a nightmare, buying all the chemicals. Used to just be able to rock up to a pharmacy and buy pickling lime (Calcium hydroxide), alum, citric, soda ash and litmus paper...but not a chance these days. All has to be ordered online. On the plus side, I now have mixed my own Bordeaux mix (for blight) as it has been discontinued for years.
Allotment has run amok...but the garden lilies are in full bloom so there's that.