Between Wednesday July 11th and Monday July 16th I pulled up all my flax. I started a bit earlier than 90 days after planting (I planted all the plots the same day, April 15th), and earlier than 30 days after peak bloom (which was around June 21st). These had been the two harvest benchmarks I had in mind all summer. However, we have had such hot, dry weather that despite my diligent watering efforts the flax was just done. Usually people recommend pulling it up when the lower third of the stalks turns yellow. I have typically pulled it when more like half or even two thirds of the stalk is yellow. You can see in the photos that this year a lot of the flax was entirely yellow, and a few stalks had even begun to turn brown. Continue reading “Flax Harvest at Small Ones Farm”
Flattened Flax
I have been hesitating to post this because I don’t have much in the way of photo documentation, plus it’s sad. On Monday (June 25th) we had very heavy rain and thunderstorms. It had been very hot for a few days and I’d been watering the flax and garden each day, so I was glad for the rain. But on Tuesday I arrived at the community garden to a very sad sight. The v.n.s. looked as if someone had parted it with a comb down the middle of the bed, and then combed it flat on either side of the part. Flat. Poor flat flax. I hadn’t brought my camera, so there is no photo of the scene, but maybe you can conjure a mental image. I tried to fluff it up and shake off the excess water and encourage the stalks to stand upright again. They stood up a little, in a wobbly way, but I fear their former graceful and erect stature is gone forever. The Marilyn, which has already suffered from lodging, was also hard-hit. In contrast, the Evelin was not affected, happily.
Later on Tuesday I checked on the plot at Amethyst Farm, and there was a similar scene there.
Cat Nap Beds or Crop Circles
Last week when I went to check on the flax at Small Ones Farm, their barn cat, Squeak, was lolling about in the flax bed as if it was the perfect place to nap, or perhaps hunt mice. Or just to hang out. Flax does have a strong smell, even while it’s growing (and stronger still while it’s drying). Maybe it’s appealing in a catnip-like way. Who knows. Anyway, here’s Squeak in the flax.
I have several other photos, but this is pretty cute. Continue reading “Cat Nap Beds or Crop Circles”
Flax Blossom Image Gallery
Happy Solstice to all! Here in Amherst it is a sweltering, bright, gloriously sunny day. Flax is in full bloom. Even though hot weather is not necessarily to flax’s liking, it has been looking stately and graceful over the past several days. I’ve been giving it extra water for encouragement.
I find flax in bloom to be unspeakably beautiful–the sweet little five-petaled structure and luminous blue color of the flowers themselves, and the way the flowers and the bright green foliage of the plants vibrate and glow together. I have taken ridiculous numbers of photographs trying to capture the exhilarating feeling of the plants and blossoms. Here are some close-ups:
Photographing Bees
I have been impressed with how many bees I see at every plot, even though only Amethyst Farm actually has honey bee hives on the property. I enjoy their little buzzing sounds, which are as soothing and blissful as a cat’s purr. I love watching them bumble up and down, and the way a flower head droops down when the bee lands. Happy bees feasting in flowers is quintessential summertime.
However, attempting to photograph bees visiting the flax flowers is like photographing fairies. I have always had a fondness for mysterious creatures such as Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster, and have always felt sympathetic about the difficulties of photographing such elusive beings. However, getting photographic proof that the bees are actually there in the flax is proving to be as challenging as getting a clear shot of Nessie. I take photos of where the bee *was* but of course in the time that it takes to actually take the photo, the bee has moved on. And then there’s the fact that the camera will focus on other things besides the bee…. Here are some attempts:
Hmm, no bee at all. Continue reading “Photographing Bees”
More Flax Blossoms
Well, two months after planting, all the flax is blooming. This is exactly as it should be, and is very reassuring in a year when plants are otherwise not synched up with my sense of when they should be blooming (Queen Anne’s Lace already in bloom? What? Chicory??? No!!!). But, more on this later….
Back to flax news! At Amethyst Brook and Small Ones Farm, the v.n.s. wins the prize for most prolific flowers compared to Evelin and Marylin, at least at this point, at least at the times of day that I’ve observed the plants. At Amethyst Farm, I do not not observe a big difference in the number of flowers blooming between the v.n.s and Evelin, but there is a difference in height, as you will see in a moment.
Here are the plants at Small Ones Farm, as of yesterday morning, June 15th (exactly two months since planting). First, the tallest v.n.s. plants, at just over 22 inches high:
Flax is Starting to Flower
The flax in starting to bloom! These photos were all taken yesterday, June 12th, at our community garden plot at Amethyst Brook. The first variety to flower was the non-specified variety from Richters. It’s a tad shorter than the other two varieties overall, and as you may recall, it came in a little thin. This has meant that the individual stalks have more room to spread out, and the leaves seem larger on the v.n.s. than on the other two varieties. Spreading isn’t considered desirable with fiber flax, because the more branches the plant develops, the shorter the fibers will be.
Here’s one of the first beautiful flowers on the v.n.s.:
In this photo I happened to catch a little green bee-like pollinator at work. Sorry it’s blurry, but I didn’t even realize it was there until after I took the photo.
Last year I learned from Cliff Hatch at Upinngil Farm that flax flowers are pollinated by bees and other insects, and will not produce a lot of viable seed without them. I am not trying to save seed this year (hence I am growing more than one variety close together). There aren’t any beehives near the Amethyst Brook gardens, but as you can see, we get a few other pollinators.
The Evelin was full of buds yesterday, but no flowers yet:
There was one flower just barely unfurling in the Marylin bed (or Marilyn, who knows–I’ve seen it written both ways):
Measuring the heights of the plants proved a bit trickier to do by myself than I thought it would be. Again, apologies for the quality of the photos. Next time I will bring along an assistant.
The v.n.s. is about 33 inches high:
The Evelin is about 35 inches high, though there is a patch where all the plants are much shorter (one to two feet) and more spindly:
The Marylin is a full 36 inches and some plants are taller.
However, it has suffered from lodging, which is when the plants fall over and don’t straighten up again.
I
noticed the lodging at the end of May. Here’s how it looked on May 28th.
I decided not to do anything to correct the problem (for example, staking). The point of the whole exercise this year is to see how different varieties compare under similar conditions. The Marylin came in very thickly compared to the other two varieties, and grew much faster initially. I think this may be have due, in part, to the competition between the plants. In theory, you want to sow thickly so the plants will grow as tall as possible and as straight as possible, without branching. However, perhaps they outpaced themselves, and got too tall for their own stalks to support. Maybe Marylin needs to be planted less densely.
Anyway, that’s the news from flax land.
Flax Likes Rain
We have had a good amount of rain over the past couple weeks, interspersed with some stunningly gorgeous sunshine. This is flax’s favorite weather (unlike the 90 degrees, dry as a bone weather we had mid-April, which is not). Here’s how it was looking as of May 18th and 19th, last Friday and Saturday.
Above is the v.n.s. at Small Ones Farm May 18, about four inches high.
Above is the v.n.s. at Amethyst Farm May 19, about 5 inches high.
Above is the v.n.s. at Amethyst Brook May 18, about 4 and a half inches high.
Above is Marylin at Amethyst Brook May 18, about six inches high.
Above is Evelin at Small Ones Farm May 18, three and three quarters of an inch high.
Above is Evelin at Amethyst Farm May 19, between 6 and 7 inches.
Above is Evelin at Amethyst Brook May 18, between 5 and 6 inches.
Flax Grids: Evelin at Amethyst Brook
Finally, we reach the end of the flax grid photos. Phew. In future I think a 3’x3′ grid will be enough, or maybe just three one-foot sample squares out of each bed. 4’x4′ was overkill. Anyway, it’s done now. In the time since these photos were taken (April 29th and 30th) the plants have shot up. They are now feathery and about 5 or 6 inches high, and lovely. But here was how the Evelin looked at our community garden, back on April 30th.
Flax Grids: Marylin at Amethyst Brook
Here are the photos of Marylin at Amethyst Brook where we have our community garden plot. They were taken on April 30th. The Marylin growth is the most lush of all the plots, which means it had the best germination rate. It is also the only treated seed variety I grew. I think the treatment is an antifungal agent to prevent rotting the damp soils of early spring. We did not have damp soils this spring. We had dry soils. It was 90 degrees the day after I planted in mid-April. So, I am not sure why the treatment would have given these seeds an advantage, and maybe that’s not really what’s going on. Anyway, here they are:
