What the Heck?! We are in bloom! 

I was so shocked to see a blue hue in the field when I visited the Gale Woods Farm flax on June 10th! That was two weeks earlier than I expected. Although when I count up the days since sowing, it is on time—about 60 days. 

The Gale Woods Farm plot on June 10th—beginning to bloom!

The stalk height on June 10th.

The stalks are shorter than I thought they would be. They range from 24 to 31 inches. However, when looking at the expected height of the Avian variety, it is within the typical range. The shorter ones may catch up to the others, provided the shorter stalks aren't already in bloom (blooming is when the growth stage ends). Nevertheless, we may end up with a range of heights this year. Will see!

Can you see the blue hue in the distance—in the upper center of the photo? 

This was the view of the flax plot on June 18th, looking from the farm's entrance road.

I went back out to visit the stalks on June 18th, and they are still in a healthy bloom state, with more to come! So folks, get out to Gale Woods Farm within the next couple of weeks to catch the remaining blooms! (Gale Woods is a Three Rivers Park District park in Minnetrista, Minnesota.)

The plot is starting to sparkle with blooms on June 18th! Happy midsummer blooms!

If you can't get out to visit the blooms in person, here's a video to give you a taste of being in the field:

My personal plot is also in bloom!

As has been true throughout this growing season, my personal plot at Riverbend Farm, planted a few days after the Gale Woods plot, began blooming around June 12th.

My Riverbend Farm plot on June 12th.

It's a little hard to see the blooms because the wind was really kicking up and bending the stalks. They were getting a workout, but the petals still hung on until early afternoon.

Can you see the blue petals on the ground? Such delicate beauties!

My Riverbend Farm stalks have a more consistent height than the Gale Woods Farm stalks. 

On June 12th, they averaged 32 inches. Why are they more consistent? Perhaps the seeds were more viable, the soil type more amenable, the moisture more steady, and the sun more direct. Who knows?

The Growth Continues

…updating the progress of the Gale Woods Farm and my personal flax plots.

Gale Woods Farm

On May 28th, I weeded the plot for the third, and, hopefully, final time. The weeds were few, although it still took an hour to go through the rows.

The Gale Woods stalk height was about 10 inches on May 28th. 

This should be the last major weeding, since from this point on the stalks should start to snuff out any major weeds in the rows. (Weeds will continue to grow between the rows, but even they should become fewer as the stalks grow, and not affect the success of the stalk growth in the rows.)

The Gale Woods plot is looking good 43 days after sowing!

Some stalks are shorter than others, and that is most likely because their depth at sowing was a little deeper. Other factors may be involved; nevertheless, I've found that the shorter stalks tend to keep up with the taller ones as summer moves on. (Some linen flax growers separate shorter stalks from the longer ones when harvesting, but I find that is a fussy task and not really necessary. The ultimate stalk length is usually within an acceptable range and yields no significant problem in the final fiber result.)

An overhead view of the rows.

The shadows were showing a rough depiction of an American flag!

The Gale Woods flax rows on June 2nd—48 days after sowing.

I went back out to the field on June 2nd. The weeding was inconsequential. Yay! With only the occasional pulling of thistles as the summer goes on, the weeding is DONE! The height of the tallest stalks had grown to 21 inches—a doubling of height in just six days! Exciting! 

I had to hold up the tallest stalks to measure them, since the wind had bent the tall ends.

On this same day, we had a few visitors to the plot. They included two weaving students who had just graduated from the Sätergläntan folk school in Sweden and were in town to see various fiber-related venues. The education coordinator at the American Swedish Institute (one of my teaching locations) thought they would enjoy seeing the farm plot, so she, the two students, and a fellow teacher at ASI arrived for a tour of the plot and the farm. It was a beautiful day! Other farm staff and a farm fiber volunteer joined us, making a convivial group of linen enthusiasts as we shared knowledge of linen flax between countries.

The Swedish weavers are on the left side of the image; Shai is wearing a red cap, and Malin is wearing black shorts.

Catching Up on My Personal Plot

On May 23rd, I weeded my personal "Riverbend plot" for the second time. 

The stalk height averaged 3.5 inches, slightly shorter than that of the Gale Woods plot during the same week. That was expected due to the later sowing date. 

Oh, the grasses are the bane of my existence out there! But I did quite a clean weeding of the rows, even though the field was SO muddy and the weeds were holding tight in the soggy soil. Exhausting work!

A worm "friend" joined me during the muddy weeding!

The rows at Riverbend on May 23rd, after a good weeding, 35 days after sowing.

I returned to the field on May 30th for the third weeding. The stalks have grown! They are now averaging a foot tall. 

The stalks were a foot tall on May 30th – a gain of 8.5 inches after only 7 days! That's an increase of over an inch a day!

This was a tougher weeding day, with warmer weather, more sun—and I hope my last deep weeding. The flax really likes the organic soil at Greg's place, and so do the weeds and grasses! This was a three-hour-plus weeding session! That's about an hour longer than previous weedings. I plan to go out again this weekend and hope the weeding effort will have lessened as the flax stalks have grown taller. Honestly, the weeding is starting to feel physically taxing as the days get warmer. With June beginning, the weather will undoubtedly continue to become warmer. Another reason to sow those flax seeds as early as possible, as we were able to do this year!

The Riverbend flax rows on May 30th—42 days after sowing.

The rainy weather of the previous week has been a benefit, although a few days had passed since the last good amount of rain and the field was starting to dry out. So at the end of my weeding session, I lightly watered the stalks. More rain is expected at the end of this week, which will be good timing for those growing stalks!