Flax to Linen: An Experiment

I've been inspired by several IG accounts to try my hand at growing flax and turning it into linen cloth.

My reasons are 3:

I'm sick of my clothes being plastic.
Losing the old ways is a bad idea.
If AI data centers hike up electricity rates and devalue currency, I want a way to make clothes.

In general, I prefer someone else make the clothes, but I want the option of knowing I can.

To start, I looked up general flax and almost bought the wrong kind from Amazon.

I didn't realize that I need fiber flax as opposed to seed flax, but I was wise enough to make sure, and then I looked for Linum usitatissimum.

I bought Linore from Landis Valley (3 pounds for $70) and Avian from Full Sky Farm (2,500 seeds for $35).

Linore has the advantage of being both for oil and for fibers, so I can try making linseed oil in the future.

The Landis Valley purchase provided more, but I wanted the Avian variety, and Landis didn't have it at the time.

Linore can be planted mid-October, so I thoroughly cleaned out the zinnia bed and cast seed with wild abandon.

The germination happened according to plan!

I have to put up fencing today so critters don't ruin the crop.

I also planted some Avian in two large containers for seed so I can grow another plot in spring.

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