Untitled Document

FLAXCAM - Chapter 4 - Harvest Comes

July 29, 2001

The flax is starting to ripen, although most of the seed capsules and plant stems are still green.

This is Peter, our son from Chicago who is brewing a special harvest beer to celebrate our flax harvest.

Yes, we are planning a harvest party when the crop is bundled and stored for the winter.

Houseguests and former neighbors from Osterroenfeld, Germany posing in front of the ripening flax plants.

The crop needs a little time to be ready to harvest and Hans has to go to Frankfurt on a business trip until Aug. 20. Until then there will be no updates because the field will continue to look more or less like this - tending to a little more brown in the seed capsule and gold in the stems.

August 10, 2001

HARVEST TIME

August 27, 2001

The flax will be harvested today and tomorrow. This variety - Verilin - was a substitute for Ariane and in some respects a bit odd. The field never bloomed at once, instead producing flowers constantly over several weeks. Maturity is also not as uniform as we'd like to have it.

There has been ample rain (following a very extended period of hot dry weather) to allow for easy pulling in the otherwise heavy topsoil.

A planned vacation trip to meet a new grandchild makes it imperative to get the crop pulled before Sept. 1.

Pulling the flax - the stalks are pulled up by the roots and bundled as shown.

The flax pulls out easily, leaving the weeds that have grown up in spite of the clean appearance in June, behind.

The flax stalks are then tied in bundles and will be placed in a shed to dry preceding the rippling.

August 27, 2001

August 27, 2001

The flax is bundled and tied in preparation for drying.

So far so good - no terrible damage from bad weather.

Toward the end of Sept. we plan to hold a harvest party and ripple the dried bundles.

Then there will be a winter of rest - until the weather is warm enough in the spring to have the retting work quickly.

FLAX HARVESTED, BUNDLED AND PUT TO "BED"

August 28, 2001

This racing bed in the pole building is ideal - it allows free air circulation needed for drying the crop.

When dry, it can be rippled to remove the seed pods. These pods need to be "threshed" to get the shiny brown flax seeds. Most probably these seeds are not ripe enough to be used again for seed flax, although we WILL try a handful next year just to see.

They ARE quite good enough for baking bread, feeding livestock or making linseed oil.

HARVEST PARTY AND RIPPLING

Sept. 21, 2001

Harvest Party and Flax Rippling. To celebrate the summer project, we invited several local "fiber folk" for refreshments, home brewed beer and the opportunity to give a hand in the project.

Hans built the ripple from plans by Alden Amos. Another possibility is a so-called "moss rake" - a garden tool with long curved teeth used to remove excess moss from lawns.

The seed capsules will be saved and threshed during the winter.

The fall weather has turned too cool, as expected, to give good retting results. The flax will now be stored in the shed for the winter and

processed further in the Spring of 2002.

Watch for announcements on fiber related lists

when FLAXCAM resumes.

We thank the many visitors who have stopped by this summer.