Fibre Flax is a different variety than oilseed flax. The oilseed varieties produce poor quality fibres.
Pembina Fibreshed has sourced a variety of different fibre flax seeds from around N. America.
Processing flax by hand is labour intensive (challenging but rewarding) we recommend starting a small plot 4x4 or no larger than 10x10 to ensure success!
For more information and detailed planting we recommend the Richter’s Seeds Website here.
Thanks to Shannon Bahound for her excellent research on the different varieties that we grew last year. We will post the finished project and outcomes soon.

Plant in full-sun in a bed free of weeds and rocks.
Broadcast seed thickly so plants grow close together. This prevents branching resulting in longer strands of fibre and blocks out weeds. (The ideal plant density is 2,000 plants per square meter (190 per sq. ft.) From Richters Seeds)
Rake gently into the soil, or cover with a light layer of compost and water until plants are established.

We have some helpful videos for planting your fibre flax from Hundredfold Farm.

WEEDING FLAX

Your flax has started growing - congratulations!

There is minimal weeding involved with a flax plot and there is a very short window of time that it can be done safely.

Usually the flax is too close together to how or even to reach in the middle of your patch without crushing the flax.

As long as the flax is less than 4" tall you can step on the plants (GENTLY) and they will still bounce back. We recommend you do this barefooted!

If you weed well - you will only have to do it once. And as the flax continues to grow it will crowd out the other weed