Anyone wanting any flax seed?

I’m just finalising the details of the seed order now. So far we have the following flax plots:

2 plots at Means of Production garden of about 20x20 feet that Caitlin ffrench is taking on

a 5x20 plot at McLean Park feet that Cindy, the Parks Board gardener has graciously offered to help with

a 10x4 plot at my ‘other’ garden

a 5x20 plot at Aberthau Community Centre

and a possible plot in Strathcona Community Gardens


If I’ve missed you off the list, please post into the comments below and remind me!
　
After some very generous offers of land by the Parks Board, we decided on just one plot at Aberthau. It was a hard decision, but we decided to make this a trial year, and add in extra plots next year once we have more experience. Also, as flax can only be grown on a 5-year rotation, this year’s plots will need to be planted with something else until 2018.

We also have limited time (and of course no transportation) for getting to far flung, transit unfriendly places like Jericho, though the Parks Board have kindly agreed to do the soil prep and planting here. We will just take on the initial weeding and then the harvest. Look out for a harvest party out there in the fall with a picnic, a band, and lots of fun….

As to the crop rotation, I suggest the intervening crop years could be a year of red clover, to replace the nitrogen. It has the benefit of dyeing a lovely gold colour with aluminum sulphate. Woad would make a great year 2/3 crop (as long as it isn’t allowed to seed!), and a 4^th year of local indigenous dye plants like Hypericum perforatum or perhaps another legume that also yields a dye. Anyone got any suggestions?
　
　
　
　
　　
　
　　
　

　
　　

Monday night: Sticks and Strings

Monday  night: Sticks and Strings:

Bring along your project in progress; spinning, knitting, crochet or sock darning- whatever you feel like working on.

Be inspired by others projects, share ideas, techniques and if there is something new that is fibre-based you are hoping to learn,  you might just find the people who can help you learn!  Some nights may even find a dye pot on the go…Your hosts (in various combinations) include: Penny Coupland, Sharon Kallis, Karen Barnaby and Martin Borden

Mondays, 8, 22, 29 6-8.30pm ( note no  class April 15)

The start of spring means winter clothes get packed away: bring along any sweaters that need some mending and lets see what colourful collective mending options we can  find. Some wool provided. We will also be starting dye pots of cherry and  empress wood bark from spring tree pruning, so  bring along  some wool bits for pre-mordanting and dying! Of course, general knitting, crocheting and other hand projects are welcome and encouraged.

     

Special events: The studio will be closed for drop-in on Monday, April 15th.

Buying your Elektra flax seed ready for the spring.....

‘Blue Monday’ seems like a great time to be thinking about seeds and planting – new beginnings.

If you’re growing along with Urban Weaver this year, here’s my email from Randy Cowan at Biolin with purchase information for your Elektra flax seed. Good day,
Thank you for your interest in the art of flax fibre growing!
The seed prices, which are valid to March 31, 2013, are:
0.0 to 4.9 kgs -> $10/kg
5.0 to 24.9 kgs -> $5.00/kg
greater than 25 kgs (sold only in 25 kg bags) -> $3.00/kg
Prices do not include GST or shipping
we accept cheque or paypal payment before shipment
Thank you,
Randy Cowan
Director of Operations
Biolin Research Inc
161 Jessop Avenue
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Canada
S7N 1Y3
Phone: (306) 668-0130
Fax: (306) 668-0131
Website: http://biolin.sk.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/biolinresearch
Google+: https://plus.google.com/106224068896437970548
twitter: @flaxfibernshive
And just a reminder from a previous post of what he said about how much seed you’ll need:

The seed needed depends on the seeding method, if you are broadcasting (scattering) the seed then you will want to aim for a 2,000 plants per meter squared, this will make the plants compete and thus will give you a consistent small stem, easy to ret and decorticate. If you are row seeding the competition would not be as good as broadcasting, the loss in emergent plant count is also not consistently known as the seed now has to compete with its neighbor in the row as well as the environment.

Fiber Flax Seed is 5 grams per 1,000 seeds (Elektra is a fiber variety)
Assume a 90% vigor/emergence because not all seed reacts to the environment the same.
So, for every square meter seeded with fiber flax = 2,000 seed desired seed times 5 grams per 1,000 seeds times 90% vigor/emergence = 12 grams per meter square.


　
　
And if Blue Monday just makes you want to curl up with a book, here are few suggestions from the Vancouver Library shelves:

The Magic of Linen Flax Seed to Woven Cloth By Heinrich, Linda
An excellent book all about flax growing in BC over the ages with interesting photos and lots of information.

Linen & Lace Simple-to-sew Homestyle Charm Using New and Vintage Lace By Sabatier, Chantal Something you can read to help you decide what to do with your flax crop.

Linen Heirlooms The Story and Patterns of A Collection of 19th Century Handwoven Pieces with Directions for Their Reproduction By Gallagher, Constance Dann
How to make some lovely linen pieces for yourself.

20th Century Linens and Lace A Guide to Identification, Care, and Prices of Household Linens By Scofield, Elizabeth
And how to look after the linen that you’ve grown, processed and woven yourself so that your grandchildren will be able to marvel at your skill!

Penny
　　
　

　
　　

Exciting flax news!

The plans for the flax processing equipment have now been ordered from http://www.woolgatherers.com so that Martin Borden http://martinborden.wordpress.com/can start making the brake, hackles etc that we will need in the fall.


I just wanted to share with you some more of the advice that Sara von Tresckow gave me about linen.

And keep in mind what I caution weavers beginning to work with linen yarn -
you will never teach linen anything - it needs respect and it requires you
to follow the basic rules of working with it - no tips and tricks. On the
other hand, I have found over many years that linen has taught me a great
deal about accepting those things that we cannot change and still creating
beautiful items with the fiber. I learned to love the fiber in N. Germany
where, as in many other European areas, linen is life - it is part of the
cycle of nature and the seasons - it is not something that needs to be
overanalyzed and tweaked - it is a gift from nature that needs our love and
respect - we need to prepare lovely textiles, launder them carefully, press
them well, make no damaging creases, caress them when we use them - and
NEVER put it in a tumble dryer for any reasonAs someone who has woven with linen I can only agree. Linen is a very determined fibre and will do what it does. It isn’t like working with wool. In a battle of wills between the weaver and the linen, the linen always wins!


The exciting news is that the Parks Board have become very keen about the UWF2L (Urban Weaver Flax to Linen) project and have given us a small dedicated piece of land next to McLean field house to grow some on. Cindy, the wonderful gardener (and knitter, basketmaker) in McLean Park is looking forward to growing this new crop too! Thanks to Sharon Kallis http://sharonkallis.com/, the powerhouse behind UW for being so enthusiastic and taking the project to new heights.

This means that Strathcona locals and visitors will be able to see the plants as they mature and grow and follow the harvesting and processing. Hopefully it will help inform people about the time and work involved to make the clothes they wear and get children keen to try growing some of the lovely blue flowered plants (in the ground or even in pots).

There’s also a possibility of more Parks Board areas being available this year for flax growing – but the PB themselves would be doing the growing. Look out for blue flax flowers in the summer when you’re visiting any park…...

And watch this space for more details!

　
　　

How easy is it to grow flax? Your questions answered!

Sara von Tresckow of The Woolgatherers http://www.woolgatherers.com has very kindly sent me some overview thoughts on the whole linen growing process. She has been growing, processing and working with flax and linen for many years, and her help is like having someone who can spin (flax) straw into gold (linen) thread as a mentor.

If you’re thinking of growing some flax in 2013 but are wondering how much work is involved and how difficult it will be, here’s what she had to say in reply to my many questions regarding soil preparation and planting:

You are way overintellectualizing this whole process. As is typical for folks in N. America who have never done this, the emphasis is on "just the perfect plot and fertilizer, etc".

You should start hanging loose now. When we send out flax seed, we include an instruction sheet written by Virginia Parslow who once worked at the museum in Cooperstown, NY. She states that nearly every third flax crop planted by colonists went bad. The success rate by professionals is also not 100%.

Since flax does not like excess nitrogen, and we modern folk tend to overdo on nutrients, your intended patch ** is surely going to work. It just might happen , though, that you do everything correctly and nature does not cooperate - and you just have to be ready to try again.

This is something like learning to bake where you need experience to have good success and to know what success is, you need to experience at least difficulty if not some failings.

In preparation, I'd advise looking and touching commercial linen thread and fabric, visiting museums with vintage linen pieces - to get an idea of what you'd like to achieve.

What you really need to pay attention to are following:

1. Location and moisture - flax likes to be shrouded in moisture during the
   growing season. Proximity to a body of water is helpful. The group in Green
   Bay had a plot near Lake Michigan that worked better than our backyard that
   is inland. A low spot collects the dew better than a spot that is elevated.
   Artificial watering, etc. is not ideal - the plant likes to have the right
   conditions supplied by nature.
2. Location and wind - flax likes to lodge quickly. Better than trace
   elements and other weird stuff - do as I read in a 19th century German
   book - for small plots put a chickenwire fence around the plot - 80cm if no
   deer, higher if deer are present. Using baling twine, crisscross the plot in
   an x - binding the twine on the corner fence posts. This keeps wildlife out
   and the flax upright. Naturally some sort of windbreak ahead of your plot -
   in the prevailing wind direction will also be helpful.
3. Weeding barefoot at 10cm plant height is IMPERATIVE!!! If you miss weeds
   at this point, there is no going back to get them later.
4. Seed density at sowing influences fiber fineness. If the plants are too
   far apart, the fibers will grow stronger and somewhat coarses. Thickly sown,
   the fiber is finer - to a point - where it becomes weak and unusable.
   Usually with hand sowing you get mixed density - just sort the plants a bit
   at harvest time to put similar stalks together.

Hope this is as helpful to all you soon to be flax growers as it was for me.

Makes the process look way less daunting, and I'm now prepared for potential failure if the weather doesn't co operate this year.

Penny

**  This is the plot that Caitlin ffrench http://wewilltellyouallofoursecrets.blogspot.ca/ is going to grow at Means of Production garden http://moparrc.com/


　
　　

How to calculate the amount of flax seed you’ll need to grow yourself a shirt in 2013, and has anyone seen old hackles for sale?

We now have a Canadian source of flax seed http://biolin.sk.ca, and what lovely people they are too. They research and promote the growing of flax in Canada for linen, oil and shive (straw), sell processed flax for spinning, shive for mulch and pet bedding and lots more uses.
I have had several very nice informative emails from them and they’re taking a real interest in the Vancouver Flax Project, even though they’re aware it’s only tiny compared to the amount that farmers grow in Saskatchewan.

Randy Cowan, their Director of Operations recommends ‘Elektra’ as the best variety for our climate and to produce a good fibre yield. He was kind enough to include details of how much you would need and how densely it needs to be sown. They’re happy to sell small or large amounts of seed to whoever wants it.

For those of you busy calculating how much you’ll need to order from them to grow yourselves some linen, here’s what he had to say:

The seed needed depends on the seeding method, if you are broadcasting (scattering) the seed then you will want to aim for a 2,000 plants per meter squared, this will make the plants compete and thus will give you a consistent small stem, easy to ret and decorticate. If you are row seeding the competition would not be as good as broadcasting, the loss in emergent plant count is also not consistently known as the seed now has to compete with its neighbor in the row as well as the environment.

Fiber Flax Seed is 5 grams per 1,000 seeds (Elektra is a fiber variety)
Assume a 90% vigor/emergence because not all seed reacts to the environment the same.
So, for every square meter seeded with fiber flax = 2,000 seed desired seed times 5 grams per 1,000 seeds times 90% vigor/emergence = 12 grams per meter squared
Things have not gone so well on the sourcing hackles for flax processing (more about what they’re for in another post).

My supplier, the only supplier of new hackles on the continent, has family heath problems, and cannot be sure if they can provide me with hackles at all. I’m fairly sure they forge and build them themselves. Alden Amos and Stephanie Gaustad have been famous in the spinning world for many decades for their beautifully made fibre tools and wheels. For those of you not sure what I’m talking about when I say 'hackles', here is a link showing what flax hackles look like.

http://pweb.jps.net/~gaustad/flax.html
Old ones, which frequently can be found in antique stores labeled as florist’s frogs, or broken wire brushes, look like this….http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/14773
If you see one anywhere please let Penny or Sharon know and we’ll go and buy it immediately! They do appear on eBay, but are snapped up very quickly.

Now you’ve seen the pictures you can understand where the saying ‘ it made the dog’s hackles rise’ comes from!

Penny