I have been dyeing with cleaver’s beefier sibling madder (Rubia tinctorum) for probably 15 years. Madder and cleavers are in the same family (Rubiaceae) which produces a variety of red dyes with their roots. Our lesser-known local Galium species here in coastal British Columbia can give similar shades but is more challenging to harvest. Specifically, the roots of cleavers are both fine and delicate. Attempting to harvest the roots by pulling the plant out of the soil usually results in the plant snapping off at the base. Each small root mass must be excavated and as each plant provides a surprisingly small amount of roots (several times smaller than the plant itself), this must be done many times to yield enough roots for a dye project. To harvest cleavers, it’s best to locate (or grow) a patch growing in loose, sandy soil to make the root excavation easier. These specific roots were found around the base of a mature maple tree stump. The soil was ideal: loose and crumbly with decaying wood fiber. My method of collection was to follow each plant down the roots and use the roots themselves as a guide while I excavated around each root mass until they came away loosely. The extra fine root sections also held onto the soil fairly tightly, so I ended up collecting the roots and clumps of soil which I could then later wash out.