I Grew Flax In My Backyard and This Happened

I didn't expect growing flax in my back yard to be such a challenge! Between the weather, backyard wildlife, and my own inexperience there were probably a thousand ways this project could have gone better. My final crop was certainly not what I expected!

With all that said however, there are not really words to explain the feeling of holding my first handful of flax- planted, nurtured, and grown right in my own backyard. Saying it was a moment of deep connection to the earth and to my family history doesn't seem adequate. It was a beautiful moment and one I'm grateful I can share with you.

📘 Homegrown Linen: Transforming Flaxseed into Fibre by Raven Ranson

📔 Linen: Hand Spinning and Weaving by Patricia Baines

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[SS_S.]

"Everyone's yard could be flax 😂"

This was a great video!

[saraht]

growing nettles specifically for fiber is wild to me as someone who lives in the UK, you can literally just walk for 5 minutes anywhere and find loads XD

[Which-Craft]

And I get that you feel awkward considering the circumstances. As a Floridian who goes through this hurricane thing fairly frequently, I can tell you that even though we had a lot of damage, we also know the areas north of us had no infrastructure to handle this kind of storm and our hearts and souls are with them and supporting them. However, we all do what we can and then we pick up the pieces. Those pieces include the comfort of a sense of normalcy from those who were fortunate to not have gone through it. Thank you for acknowledging it and we see your heart - you are appreciated. <3

[ladyselena]

Nothing embarrassing about getting emotional from harvesting your flax! There is something incredibly beautiful and rewarding in growing a plant from a seed, tending it, and harvesting it, knowing that this will keep on giving beauty and usefulness in your life. Whether that be the plants we spin into cloth, the ones we use to dye that cloth, or the plants we use to create a nourishing meal. It is a beautiful practice!

[CarrieCraftGeek]

1:37 As soon as I heard you say "I have flax in my pocket" I started singing alarm Alanis Morisette "Because I got flax seed in my pocket I'm gonna spin some yarn".

[resourcedragon]

As someone who went through a bad cyclone a few years ago (and some "once in 2, 000 year floods" more recently and a not-so-bad cyclone more recently still) I can promise you that nice, normal things like this video are very welcome relief after a disaster.

We lost the power for several days after the really bad cyclone but, in accordance with the official instructions, I had a battery operated radio. I was able to use this to listen to a broadcast of a Beethoven string quartet. You cannot begin to imagine how much hope that brought me.

[EngineeringKnits]

I'm so excited to see your growing, processing and spinning! It isn't the easiest, but I can't wait to see a pro spinner and fiber artist tackle it! I also get so emotional when harvesting fiber and dye plants. Like I'm reaching back through thousands of years of human history when I'm pulling the flax plants out of the earth and sharing a moment with all the fiber artists who came before. Can't wait for the next one!

[joshkirven]

I’m watching this sitting in a hotel because I still don’t have power in my apartment because of Helene. Thank you for your kind words and in general to everyone who has sent support. I’m thankful that I am safe but so many are not. ❤

[MaiseNow]

Your husband being like "can we create a superflax by planting all the seeds in one spot?" cracked me up. You two make a good pair, since you're both silly and supportive and kind to each other. He seems genuinely interested in what you're doing, which is every fiber person's dream lmao.

Anyways, gonna watch the rest of the video now. <3 I'm so glad you're safe after all the storms you've had lately!

[Harpmary]

I really enjoy watching your videos. Not only are you an amazing fiber artist, but your kindness and thoughtfulness always shine through. Thank you for sharing your work and beautiful self with everyone!!

[TaylorLanahan]

Thank you for not only sharing the history of how to use it to make linen but for growing

[maureengolden]

❤ That was a very thoughtful inserted comment in your video about Helene.

[debrapaulino]

Totally understand your tears. What youre doing is spiritual and connecting.

[jwnjzzl]

You'e SO COOL, such an inspiration to a new generation of fiber artists and scholars!

[beautifuldreamer]

Flax is VERY labor intensive. Im amazed people actually did it

[RebeccaTreeseed]

You are planting European annual flax used commercially. Various native flaxes grow all over the US. I have perennial flax native to my high desert taking over my hill adjacent to my driveway. I look forward to processing it!

[MijnWolden]

I went to the flax museum in Kortrijk (Courtrai) last week, and here are some tidbits I think you will enjoy:

Flax from the Leie river was golden river flax, because it was thought the Leie had the best water for flax. This wasn't true, People from the Leie region just had enormous flax knowledge.

We call the stooked 'hovels' chapels (kapellen) actually.

And stooking is called 'hagen', which you could translate to 'hedging'

They had a big heap of 35 tonnes of flaxfibers in the museum, stored by year, and by the colour of the flax they could determine the climate conditiones of that year. I think one of the batches was really dark because there had been a lot of rainfall that year. Interesting to find out if the stormy weather might have impacted the colour of your fiber!

[hoefje]

Are you going to show us please what you did to get the dry plants ready for spinning?

[cuppajavaplease]

That was a great video! Thank you for remembering the victims of Helene. We live in western NC where it hit hard, though we have not suffered much compared to others. A tree fell on our roof, another on our cars. We are just grateful to be alive.

[aprilcheatum]

Never be embarrassed when moved to emotion, regardless of the reasoning. I was crying also, because I know the love and beauty and spirit that comes with working with natural fibers and I've had very little experience. I plan to grow fields of flax one day, and I know I'll be bawling at every step