Bandana crazy.

In a good way. The good ol' American red or blue bandana is now an icon of the working class US. Or what's left of it. When we see that familiar red or blue print with white, on a nice big cotton square we immediately think of....a working man and a working woman. We think of symbols for gangs, we think of cowboys and cowgirls, and we think of pirates that rob I.

this Disney pirate needs no introduction, right Capt. Sparrow! Notice that red silk sash.... a bandana from ancient and old India, the seaport of Bengal.


Since the red or blue handkerchief is so ubiquitous, at least one is probably owned by every American now living, and in the past, every American probably owned quite a few.
First made in India many hundreds of years ago,  as a piece of fabric with tie dye designs, it was called "Bandhani" meaning a style of Indian tie dyed fabric. The tiny little white designs were made by making teeeny tiny little pinches of fabric, dipping it in indigo blue dye or other colors, and then the released ties made a pattern of small white undyed "stars".
Back then, a tribal or cultural affiliation would be known by the color and design of the bandhani, and the scarf or band, the bandana.  From about 1700, bandanas spread from the local textiles of India, away from the port of Bengal  via sailors or pirates to farmers, workers, Rosie the Riveter, the working class, bikers, and fashionable people.

Here's Blair of the blog Atlantic-Pacific.

and Dust Bowl era photographer, Dorothea Lange.

Here's a vintage Levi's advertising display of a cowboy and his blue bandana.

and from a 2014 Milan fashion show, here is a spiffy Italian dude sporting a red bandana.

Here's Rick Jimenez and his headgear, the printed bandana.

R.J. Jimenez

 

They are in tons of colors now, not just red and blue. They most often still have white designs, but black is pretty common as an accent color too.
The names of makers you most likely will see are Elephant trunk up and trunk down, Tiger, Tuside, Hav A Hank,  and many unknown makers but most likely Paris Accessories that began in America in the early 20th century.
You will see more than flowers and paisley, dots and dashes since they can be printed with any message or face or name such as for politicians, business logos, and of course, Willie Nelson and  a few rock stars, too.
Since very little information is required by law to be printed on the bandana, it will only contain a country of origin, or fiber content, washability and maybe an RN number.

 

Bandanas, because of their history, their textile beauty can be framed like a painting and hung on the wall for a big blast of color and texture. This arrangement is from www.apartmenttherapy.com

funkomavintage is always crazy for bandanas. 
Here is a few in the Etsy shop.

When last we spoke of the container garden, we had just planted the heirloom tomatoes and other such old-fashioned things. And we discussed the #5 plastic bins that we, the royal we, will plant our old-fashioned things in... and we have and they are up and look at what is going on now in the trailer park garden in early June!
For a quick review of the plantings and doings in March '15, clicky here, and then come right back! 

We are letting the weeds grow, and they are providing a lot of blooms now and look very adorable in a cottage garden kind of way. I practice an organic and biodynamic style of gardening. Weeds for the bees, butterflies and worms and caterpillars and lots of ladybugs, and lady bug larvae.
I am quite sure the manager of the trailer park is not happy with my weeds! But they are very important to the success of my garden and my produce I hope to have........ the tomatoes, the zukes, the cukes and all the lovely flowers too.

Here we have lettuce and tomato seedlings and they have grown so much......as you shall see in the pics nearer the bottom.
I planted seeds of 2 kinds of cukes to climb on the patio, and a zuke to grow all over the place. Okra, beans, bell peppers, and Jalepeno, and basil, mint and sage. Lots of flowers too for the beeeeeez and butterflies.
Indigo Rose is a great black little tomato that's new to me, Cherokee Chocolate, a relative of my all time fave Cherokee, Garden Peach (new heirloom to me), Black Prince ( love a dark tomato), Silvery fir tree with fine lace leaves and a red tomato, a big orange and yellow beeksteak weirdo named Hazel Mae, which is also new to me this year. This is gonna bee fun. ha ha ...

I re-use old plastic tags, mark them with a Sharpie, or use popsicle sticks or little random pieces of wood to mark the seeds and tiny plants (and big plants if memory might fade)

Cukes, Zukes, okra and peppers. Lots of tomatoes!!
The beans are running along and have had a lot of snails to attack and eat them so Sluggo to the rescue! I do love and need some bugs and spiders and worms and such, but I need far less snails and slugs. Go Away!

 Here's my Meyer Lemon. I LOVE my lemon. So much. At cocktail hour I pop out for a fresh lemon and put a sliver of fresh goodness in my martini.

OK, I planted the heirloom tomatoes, the peppers, and a basil and lots of flowers in the bins with yummy organic soil. Then I did a covering of the dirt using the  plastic from the big bags of organic soil, to A. Keep the soil warm and moist. and B. Keep the cats from taking a crap in my pots of dirt and tiny little garden plants.
I love the cats. I do not want them in the dirt, pooping.

The tomatoes and other tiny little things were transplanted at the end of May '15, and in a week they have doubled in size!
The marigolds, the sage, the lobelia....... are all blooming and attracting lots of bees all day.
We get California carpenter bees.... big buzzy and black velvet.
We get Apis mellifera, the good ol' Honey bee that Monsanto and Bayer are hellbent on KILLING OFF. And lots of teeny teeny bees, and lots of ladybugs too.

Here is the big view. I took some bamboo poles, that I grew in Tacoma and lugged them down here with me, and I stuck them in the bins of dirt and tied them together for a frame to hold the tomatoes. Will this be strong enough? I don't know. But I can add more sticks and stuff later as the season goes on if the plants threaten to grow as high as an elephant's eye.

I have 4 more big pots that I'll fill with more organic soil and put in the cukes and zukes and other stuff I wanna grow. I use Kelloggs Organic soil , or Black Gold, (Organic Materials Review Institute) OMRI ok'd, and supplement it with organic compost.

so, yes, since we are very bee and butterfly friendly and we never never use poisons, and only grow in organic soil, we are lettting the weeds grow. Weeds are lovely plants with bad press.
Many plants have self-seeded from last year.... tomatoes, alyssum, lobelia, chamomile, dusty miller.... We have lots of sow thistles, and tiny other things, and I'll add my little film in a few days and make a list of the names of the weeds I've been able to identify. That there is a subject I want to know more about.

The butterfly bush and  a tiny tiny bee on the Luther Burbank from Santa Rosa Shasta Daisy.
It is all Heaven!