Not all cotton bolls are white…
Roberta French, who built my apartment complex in Oaxaca many decades ago, established a textile weaving business and planted coyuche (koyuchi), a natural brown cotton. She is no longer with us, but her plant survives and grows up onto my balcony. This time of year, the yellow, pink, and rose flowers bloom, die, form pods, and brown cotton fluff results.
And the results? Here, at my apartment complex, the plant is solely decorative. However, the traditional way of growing, spinning, and weaving brown cotton is still practiced in some communities in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. And, I have been lucky enough to have been gifted an old huipil woven of coyuche and acquired a new one at an expo-venta here in Oaxaca city. If you would like more information on coyuche and its cultivation and weaving, I recommend checking out the Katyi Ya’a collective.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
Wonderful photos and info. What a great gift Roberta French left for you.
Gracias, amiga. Roberta was quite a woman and I am lucky enough to live in her apartment!
Beautiful flowers for today. 😀
Thank you, your photos are an inspiration!
Fascinating! thank you.
Thank, Devik! When are you returning to Oaxaca?
In January! my husband and I are coming with 10 others. Very excited to be returning!
[…] Oaxaca, Mexico, to economically develop in a sustainable way.” They spin, dye, and weave coyuche — a brownish cotton grown in Oaxaca and, working with designers, fashion modern takes on this […]
[…] indigo and coyuche brocade huipil above is from the Mixtec village of Pinotepa de Don Luis and was the first in my […]
“Tree cotton” could be a more sustainable crop than its annual cousin which requires vast quantities of pesticide. (Perennial cropping of many types is being researched in Kansas, as described in Wes Jackson’s ALTARS OF UNHEWN STONE.)