AppleOak FibreWorks

17/08/2026

FOR SALE – Italian Professional Hydraulic Wine/Grape Press – €3,500

Another piece of our larger production equipment is looking for a new home!

This is a professional CEP hydraulic press, made in Italy and originally designed for pressing grapes. We purchased it for approximately €5,000.

We have used it occasionally for pressing plant material such as weld and sage after extraction to recover the remaining dye liquid. As we are reducing the scale of our production, we simply don't need such a large press anymore.

It is in good working order and comes with the large pressing/filter bag pictured.

Details:
• Large stainless-steel perforated basket
• Hydraulic pressure system and gauge
• Three-phase power
• Stainless collection tray and outlet
• Opening/removable basket
• Mobile base on castors
• Large pressing bag included
• Made in Italy

€3,500

This is a large, heavy professional machine, so we will need to arrange collection/delivery from Co. Clare, Ireland.

It could be useful for wineries, cider/juice production, herbal or botanical processing, natural dyeing or other small-scale processing.

Please message us if interested. We can provide measurements, additional information or arrange a viewing.

Shares very welcome – we'd love to find a new home for it.

17/08/2026

08/08/2026

06/08/2026

🌿 Harvest season has begun in the dye garden and thankfully it didn't rain through the live session! 😅

This week we spent the evening in the garden talking about harvesting for colour.

Knowing when to harvest can be just as important as knowing what to harvest. Leaves, flowers, roots and seeds all have their own timing, and understanding the life cycle of the plant makes a remarkable difference to both colour and future harvests.

We walked through the garden discussing:
🍃 Harvest timing for different dye plants
🌼 How flowering changes the plant
🌱 Balancing dye production with saving seed
🌾 Drying and storing your harvest
🌿 Observations from our ongoing variety trials

The full recording is now available inside the Natural Dyers & Growers Academy for members.

What are you harvesting from your garden at the moment?

06/08/2026

🌿 Harvest season has begun in the dye garden.

This week we spent the evening in the garden talking about harvesting for colour.

Knowing when to harvest can be just as important as knowing what to harvest. Leaves, flowers, roots and seeds all have their own timing, and understanding the life cycle of the plant makes a remarkable difference to both colour and future harvests.

We walked through the garden discussing:
🍃 Harvest timing for different dye plants
🌼 How flowering changes the plant
🌱 Balancing dye production with saving seed
🌾 Drying and storing your harvest
🌿 Observations from our ongoing variety trials

With storm clouds gathering overhead and the garden bursting with Coreopsis, Marigolds, Woad and Persicaria, it was a perfect evening to be outside sharing what the season is teaching us.

The full recording is now available inside the Natural Dyers & Growers Academy for members.

What are you harvesting from your garden at the moment?

🌿 Learn more about Full Membership:

https://appleoakfibreworks.com/collections/academy-membership/products/1-year-academy-membership-br-natural-dyers-growers-academy

If you're new to the Academy, you're also very welcome to join our free community, where we share seasonal updates, educational articles, events and conversations throughout the year.

🌱 Join the free community here:

https://the-natural-dyers-academy.mn.co/share/Mz7coMI6VgbJMchB

29/07/2026

After many months of planning, we've reached the next chapter in the journey of AppleOak FibreWorks.

From Monday, 3rd August, our Closing Down Sale begins with 20% off our textile and fibre collections.

As many of you know, we're moving the business back home. While this means saying goodbye to much of our textile range, it also allows us to focus fully on what we love most: natural dyes, education, research and growing The Natural Dyers Academy.

🌿 The sale includes:
• Wool & plant fibres
• Fabrics & textiles
• Felts
• Weaving & textile materials
• Much of our yarn range

These collections will not be restocked, so once they're gone, they're gone.

What will remain?

We'll continue to stock our natural dye supplies, mordants, pigments, selected fabrics and yarns for dyers, naturally dyed embroidery threads (now in handy 8 m skeins), and our handwoven nettle shawls.

Our naturally dyed socks aren't disappearing either—they'll simply move to limited pre-order releases twice a year, in spring and autumn.

This is a bittersweet moment for us. Many of these products have been part of AppleOak FibreWorks from the very beginning, and we're incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported this side of our business over the years.

Thank you for being part of the journey. ❤️

The sale begins Monday, 3rd August.

10/07/2026

IN THE GARDEN: A very hot day! Harvesting Persicaria tinctoria for pigment. Using a modified sicklebar mower. The plastic is silage plastic and gets reused every time.

04/07/2026

First decent bit of dark blue woad pigment!