Q: Growing flax for fiber
I am interested in growing flax for fiber. I am trying to locate seed and any information on growing (in coastal southern california), harvesting and processing. This is intended to be a gardening project (and more) for a 3rd grade class. Thanks for your help!
Tags: California, fiber, flax
June 12th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Here is a great website for the information you want, http://www.thelinenhouse.com/EN/AboutLinen_FromFlaxToLinen.htm.
Peaceful Valley will have this seed in the fall.
June 12th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Hi,
Well, the flax Peaceful Valley sells is Linum Rubrum (Scarlet Flax) or Linum Perenne lewisii (Blue Flax), as seeds for the flowers. I’m not sure about the best flax to grow for fiber, except I did find some info that mentioned common flax (Linum usitatissimum) as the type used for fiber for clothing, etc. Here’s some good resources for growing it:
http://www.geocities.com/possumjim/xhtml/craft_flax_grow.html
http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/aa97/aa072397.htm
hope that helps!
amber
February 6th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Hi. I see it’s been awhile since you first posted this, but are you still interested in info? I’ve been raising flax on and off for about 10 years (I was a textile student in college) and can tell you where I got my seed from. I can also give you some insights that I’ve picked up as I went along.