One of the plants I’m growing in De Schildertuin, is flax. From this plant, linen is made. To get from seed to linen product, I’m taking place in the 1m2 vlas project, which is a part of The Linen Project. They will guide me through the entire process with webinars and workshops. I’m really looking forward to it!
This is how the flax fields started out. I cut the grass, put unprinted cardboard on top, wet it, and added organic compost mixed with sand. This is called the no-dig method, where weeds have a harder time taking over, and soil life stays intact.
The earth under the grass consists of river clay, which is perfect for growing flax. It doesn’t dry out as quickly, and does not have too many nutrients.
When growing flax for fibers, the soil should not have too many nutrients. They will cause the flax to grow fast, but not as strong. And we need strong fibers if we want to process them! They will get long and strong slowly.
I sowed the flax in rows, and I’m using two different seeds. On the small field (front): biological fiber flax called ‘Lisette’, provided by the 1m2 vlas project. On the big field (back): biological fiber flax called ‘Astella’. I’m curious to see if I’ll notice any differences in growth and/or fiber processing.
On the 4th of may, after about 1 month, the flax was a few cm high. Unfortunately a few have died because of the drought, but most of them are definitely still fine!
Maud Konings 