No…this is not a picture of a fur ball or a mouse nest (although there are plenty around here ready for their own photo op). It’s a snapshot of some goodies sent to me by to the Belgian Linen trade association for use with my sewing classes. I must say, after combing through all this stuff, I am now hooked on the idea of growing flax in my own yard.
Although I don’t see myself ever getting to a point where I have old-school skills like the ones shown in the video below, I like thinking that a 4×4 plot of flax would yield at least enough fiber to use for paper-making. A larger plot would yield enough “straw” (after it has been dried out) to use as mulch. Timo Garden, a permaculture farm in Sweden, says that they prefer flax straw for mulching, especially for the walkways and between the raised beds. It decays slowly, stays dry in wet weather and matts nicely for walking and crawling on. If gathered up in the fall, it can be used for 2 or 3 years.
Flax is ideally suited to our Massachusetts climate, and is one of the earliest blooming flowers for bees and other pollinators. All I have to do now is get a bed ready for spring. Can you imagine how uplifting it would be to have a meadow like this instead of a lawn full of crabgrass?