I planted my three flax beds on May 19. The Fraser River had still not crested, the berm was still in place in the event of flooding, but I took a chance. The beds had been covered with landscape cloth for a few months, so there were no weeds, and the soil was not compacted from the winter rains. I raked up the top few inches and measured out three beds.

I had seeds from three different sources and a deep desire to learn more about growing and processing flax. We have a good amount of space out here and I had time off from my day job, aka Holidays.

Working from right to left – bed #1 (5′ x 13′) was sown with seeds (Marilyn variety) purchased from Wild Fibres in the UK. Bed #2 (3′ x 13′) was sown with seeds purchased from Richter’s in Canada, and bed #3 (2′ x 13′) was sown with seeds from my own harvest a couple of years ago.

Germination occurred on day 4! Seriously, only four days to germination. The weather was warm, the soil nicely warmed up, and I kept the soil moist – not wet.

Three weeks later, they continue to grow. There were some patchy spots that I tried to re-seed. Those plants never caught up.

The weather continued to cooperate. A little over a month later, on June 21, the flax beds were very well established and mostly measured 12′.

Six weeks later, the flax was well over two feet tall. My cat discovered that a flax bed is a nice place to escape the heat. She tunnelled in and made herself a small bed. It caused several of the plants to bend and those plants stayed thin. Next year, I figure out some kind of fencing to keep her out.

This last photo was taken July 20 – two months since planting. And the flax is starting to bloom. It blooms in the morning and closes in the evening. Lovely blue flowers. Bed #1 was the tallest, #2 the second tallest, and #3 the shortest – but still of good length for processing to linen. 

More coming on harvesting, rippling, and retting.

Stay tuned.