Growing flax
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Took a notion to it, did you? 
I only grow it in pot loads but I think Shadow 57 grows more, I know he posted some excellent photos of the processing.
It seems to grow best if sown thickly, makes for long stems, stretching for the light....I aim for 4 seeds per square centimetre in the pots usually in late February early March, and I pull it up from late July through until September. It needs to be kept damp while growing, if the pots dry out it sets seed and dies before the stems are as long as possible. I believe it likes moist, fertile soil in field or garden.
I only grow enough to learn how to process and show the stages involved. I use so much of the fibre for workshops that I buy it in.
Cheers,
Toddy
I only grow it in pot loads but I think Shadow 57 grows more, I know he posted some excellent photos of the processing.
It seems to grow best if sown thickly, makes for long stems, stretching for the light....I aim for 4 seeds per square centimetre in the pots usually in late February early March, and I pull it up from late July through until September. It needs to be kept damp while growing, if the pots dry out it sets seed and dies before the stems are as long as possible. I believe it likes moist, fertile soil in field or garden.
I only grow enough to learn how to process and show the stages involved. I use so much of the fibre for workshops that I buy it in.
Cheers,
Toddy
I bought a packet from a health food store and planted a 2foot square in the allotment. It grew fine, nice blue flowers.
http://www.primitiveways.com/bowstring.html This article has a few tips
http://www.primitiveways.com/bowstring.html This article has a few tips
Hello.
I grow flax each year . It seems to grow better in a big pot of normal compost from the garden centre.
Sow it thickly, around about April ....then some in .May ..then some in June in different pots to see which grows the best.
It likes lots of sun and water
John
I grow flax each year . It seems to grow better in a big pot of normal compost from the garden centre.
Sow it thickly, around about April ....then some in .May ..then some in June in different pots to see which grows the best.
It likes lots of sun and water
John
A farmer friend of mine grew about 15 acres of flax about three years ago.Very colourful too. He has a parcel of land not subject to grant subsidy and consequently experiments with different crops from time to time. The flax was harvested in the normal way,but the straw was left on the ground for quite a time to 'RET' (not sure of the spelling) This retting process allowed certain fibres to break down and consequently leave mainly the stringy fibres which are the important ones in the weaving process. I seem to remember a couple of months passing! I think that this saved a lot of mechanical processing which would damage the fibres and produce yet another pile of waste to turn into either dog food ar animal bedding!
Last years trail was a grass for silage/ haylage. This is still ongoing. Swyn
Last years trail was a grass for silage/ haylage. This is still ongoing. Swyn
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