The Bloom is Off the Linen Flax

and the 30-day countdown begins!

I visited the Gale Woods Farm flax plot last Friday, July 19, and found the blooms essentially done. There were only a handful of flowers in bloom and multiple capsules. (The capsules are the “ovaries” left behind after the bloom. These capsules contain flax seeds that may be rippled [removed] when the stalks are fully mature, harvested, and dried. They may also be left in the field on some unharvested stalks to mature even further, and those can be used for next year's sowing.)

Based on what I saw when I last visited the plot on July 11th and the state of the bloom on the 19th, I am calling July 15th to be the height of the bloom (69 days since the initial sowing) and the date to begin the 30-day waiting period before harvesting. After 30 days, so around August 15th, the stalks should be fully matured, and the harvest may begin. This is right in the ballpark with the 100-day maturation expectation for linen flax, counting from the sowing date to the harvest date.

But there is always something to discover when I visit the plot. This time, I noticed that the plot had a “visitor” who went through the center of the 4-foot-wide plot and lodged several of the center stalks. 

Unless it was a very precise downdraft of wind, the visitor was most likely a rabbit, raccoon, or some sort of small to medium-sized critter that wandered through the plot. At this stage, the stalks shouldn't be affected by such lodging, so we will let them lay as they are. Hopefully, that will be the only intruder in the plot by mid-August, when harvesting will begin!

The Height of the Bloom

I need to catch up on updating the blog! 

I visited the Gale Woods Farm linen flax plot last Thursday, July 11th, and found it in full bloom! You could definitely see it from the road this time, even though the flowers are quite small—about the size of a quarter.

This plot is a pollinating wonder! I shot a video to show the action. Turn up your volume to hear the hum of the bumblebees swarming around each flower!

This rogue weed/flower (I believe it is called Hairy Vetch) has popped up in the middle of the plot. It is quite pretty against the blue flax flowers, even if unwanted in the crop. 

Here, you can see how densely the flax was sown and how successful a dense sowing is for the health of the plot. The stalks have had no problem reaching full height, which they are essentially at now, even in such tight quarters!

Look at this gorgeous flower that will only survive for a few hours! I hope you visited the plot in the past couple of weeks since the blooms will soon be gone if they aren't already. 

When the plot reaches its maximum blooming phase, the countdown begins for setting the harvest date. I plan to revisit the plot later this week to see if there are fewer blooms and if we might enter that 30-day waiting period before the harvest.

A Blooming Good Time!

I don't have much to update you on the Gale Woods Linen Flax crop except to say... it's blooming like crazy! Since rain was forecast every day for the next week, I dropped by the farm on what was to be the sunniest day (this past Wednesday, July 3) to see how the blooms were coming along. 

There are so many blooms and so many buds about to flower! 

The height of most of the stalks is now over 3 feet.

Since it was a beautiful day and there wasn't much to report from Gale Woods Farm this week besides the blooms, I stopped by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Look who greeted me on one of the back paths! A giant, ancient tortoise! The moss on his back is fantastic!

Rolling With the Punches 
A Thriving Linen Flax Plot and… the Death of a Plot

Update on the Gale Woods Farm linen flax plot

The Gale Woods plot is thriving! On June 20th, I saw the first flower in bloom. Actually, there were three flowers in bloom in the entire plot, which indicates that I probably arrived on the first day of the bloom. 

This was earlier than I expected to see the first blooms. Surprises are part of the process! The total time from sowing to bloom was precisely 44 days. 

It was interesting that the blooms were not on the tallest stalks. I guess height is not necessarily an indicator of bloom readiness. The average stalk height was around 30 inches.

I revisited the plot this past Wednesday (June 26th), 

and there are multiple blooms! It was a windy day, so getting the flowers to stand still for their portrait was difficult, 

so I made a video of the flowing stalks. (Turn up your sound to experience the site. At 7 seconds, there is the faint call of a farm rooster!)

The tallest stalks are now over 36 inches—beyond the reach of my yardstick—and many are 42 inches tall! There are still several shorter stalks, and they are all looking very healthy.

Based on the number of buds ready to burst with flowers, I suspect that starting this weekend, the plot will be in a great blooming phase, which, considering the number of stalks, might last one to two weeks. Get out there soon, or you will miss the bloom time! Each flower only survives for a few hours, which I can testify is true since I watched a flower drop all its petals during the short time I visited the plot around midday. 

Update on my personal linen flax plot

Now, some bad news, at least for me. This summer has shown no mercy for my poor personal plot. If you have been following this journey through the weeks, you know that my plot had challenges in its not-so-sunny location and being near the end of a house downspout. And we have had a LOT of rain this summer in our part of Minnesota. With one particularly heavy overnight deluge, my stalks became lodged (laid on the ground). I hoped they might recover, but they never even got a chance to try. The downpours of rain have been relentless. I finally have accepted this: my plot is toast.

Goodbye, personal plot! (And hello to needing to purchase flax stalks for any workshops I might schedule in the next year. Darn!)

 

As any gardener or farmer can tell you, the ability to roll with the punches is essential. The whims of nature will always be a factor. But after several years of trying to produce a decent linen flax crop at home, my rose-colored glasses are finally put away. I am convinced that, as things are, my home location is never going to work as a site to grow linen flax. I will need to look elsewhere. Fortunately, for this year, I have the Gale Woods Farm plot to follow and process (crossing my fingers that no significant weather events will affect that plot!). So, the remainder of my blog this summer and fall will follow the Gale Woods project. Onward!

 

Flax Weeding is Done – Now Growing is the Focus

Update on the Gale Woods Linen Flax Crop 

I visited the plot at Gale Woods Farm today. No more weeding is necessary! The crop is filling in very nicely. Grasses around the area have been mowed, so it’s easier to see the plot from the entrance road. It has been raining nearly every other day, in fact, almost too often, so watering the crop hasn’t been needed for a while. We are expecting some warmer days ahead (80+ Fahrenheit), and it will be interesting to see if the crop bolts in height during that period or slows down.

I remembered to bring my yardstick to check the actual height this time. There are various stalk heights, with the differences being roughly between 14 and 21 inches. This makes sense since some sprouts didn’t emerge until about a week after the first seedlings. If they grow at a rate of one inch a day, which I have been observing, that seven-inch difference in height would be expected. I suspect the heights will even out as they grow and mature.

A very pretty Damselfly, the Enallagma, seems to be attracted to the stalks. These damselflies (Bluets) have also been visiting my flax and sitting on the stalks, which is a good thing since, from my research, I have found they eat aphids, mayflies, and small flies that are harmful to plants. The things you learn when growing flax!

 

Other than that, there isn’t any significant news to report. It’s simply time for the crop to grow and eventually develop flower buds—although that will be several weeks from now.

 

Update on My Personal Linen Flax Plot 

With all the rain we have been experiencing, the trees around my plot have become even denser. Therefore, there is even less sun hitting the plot than last week. There has still been growth, though. The tallest stalks are around 25 inches, with a range between 20 and 25 inches.

 

Linen Flax Enjoys the Month of June 

Update on the Gale Woods plot

Yesterday, I was doing a minor weeding of the linen flax plot at Gale Woods Farm—mainly looking for more thistles. The best part of the work is being outdoors on a gorgeous June morning! Aside from needing to button up to avoid ticks and douse myself in mosquito repellent, there is nothing like a real garden experience in open fields in June! Huge, puffy clouds were sliding across the most intense blue sky. There was a crazy wind, though—gusts of 30+ mph. But that was natural bug repellent! Yay!

Above: The flax plot is in the foreground. Use your close-up vision to see the red barn and silo in the distance!

It was fabulous to see the dramatic growth in the plot! It is beautiful! At one month (precisely 30 days), the stalks are tall enough to blow in the wind (on average, they are about 8–10 inches tall). It is a wondrous sight! If you come out to visit, the plot is easier to see now that the stalks are poking up more from the surroundings. Look for it behind the fence, to the right along the entrance road, and across from the red pavilion building. There are some tall grasses between the metal fence and the plot. You will need to climb over the open wooden fence to get closer to the metal garden fence. (Careful about ticks in this area!) Perhaps in another month, the plot will be visible without going over the wooden fence.

One section towards the middle of the plot has meager growth with smaller stalks. Why? I don’t have a clue. Maybe there was something in the soil in that area—too much or too little of a particular nutrient? Maybe that bunch of seeds was less vigorous? It is curious.

 

Update on my personal plot

It’s a mixed bag of heights between the front and back of the plot. They all received the same amount of moisture and were sown and emerged at mostly the same time, so I assume the height difference is because of inconsistent sunlight. The stalks in the front receive more sun and are dramatically taller. 

After nearly 2 months of growth (precisely 54 days), the maximum height is 17 inches. That is almost halfway to their final ideal height (about 40–48 inches). However, due to the sunlight issue, I suspect my crop will be shorter at harvest time than the Gale Woods flax, even though they are the same flax variety. We shall see! (Having mostly dense woods for a backyard is wonderful, especially for the fireflies that will soon be dancing back there, but it’s not optimal for a linen flax crop!)

Linen Flax Growing Project Update 

Gale Woods Farm Linen Flax

I was at the farm on 5/30/24 to see how the flax (and weeds) were growing. As suspected, the thistle continues to make its mark on the south end of the plot, as do a few other smaller weeds throughout. I pulled the unwelcome plants for 2 hours with relatively good success. 

The plants have grown to a height that makes them generally too tall to step on, yet the weed problem needs to be handled. Due to the timing of the plot proposal and other factors, the plot was only plowed a few times this spring before sowing. A fall plot preparation is ideal, but that wasn't a possibility in this scenario. This less-than-ideal situation is becoming more apparent as the soil is becoming more than just a home for the flax seedlings. I will need to continue weeding next week, but I hope this will be the last intensive weeding session. 

After 3 weeks of growth, the seedlings are becoming stalks! The average height was about 4 inches, although I forgot to bring my measuring stick.

Personal Flax Plot

These plants are vigorous! The tallest ones are 12 inches. It's possible that they would be taller in a location with more sunlight, but they are still thriving with the cooler weather and steady rain we have been experiencing.

Linen flax LOVES a wet, cool, humid environment! This one wants to hold onto a water droplet after a rainstorm!