Rain, Rain, Go Away! 

And take that hot, humid air with you!

The past two weeks have been a rain fest in this area of Minnesota. Endless deluges. But flax likes that, even if my processing project with the perennial flax at the University of Minnesota does not! I’ve been so busy trying to keep that project on track (see my previous post for details) that my time to visit (check the weed growth of) the annual flax growing at Gale Woods Farm has been put on the back burner. 

But today, the rains let up, and I finally had a chance to check the flax at Gale Woods Farm. 

It was obvious that weeding had become a problem in the upper field of the farm due to the muddy conditions, as weeds were rampant throughout the entire field. However, the flax is growing rapidly! In fact, it looks healthier than any of the other crops in the field. That was a relief to see, as I had feared that either the stalks would have lodged due to the rain or become stressed in the extremely hot days we’ve also had in the past couple of weeks. 

There were many weeds between the rows, although the flax stalks were fairly weed-free. I spent about an hour doing a simple clean-up of the major weeds, mostly in the row spaces, and will try to get back out next week to finish the rest more completely.

It has been exactly one month since the sowing at the farm, and the majority of the stalks are reaching 12 inches in height. If this growth rate continues, they are on schedule to flower around the end of July, with a possible harvest date of early September. That is pushing the season for annual flax in this region. Let’s hope there isn’t an early frost this year!

And speaking of flowering… 

My potted annual flax has finally started to bloom! 

It is a stunted crop, which I continue to believe is due to the pots being too short for proper growth.

In fact, they aren’t a lot taller than they were in my previous post. Still, the stalks are alive and looking healthy overall.