This year we have spread.

In late April we sowed Fairy Flax at the Global Gardens site in Cardiff.

In Mid March the Machynlleth Flax seed was planted in North Devon.

In May week 3 we planted a mix of 5 varieties of Flax at St Fagan’s museum. Mostly Machynlleth (grown from Flaxland seed), but with some Coed Hills Fairy Flax, a magenta variety from rhs seeds, bird seed sent from Spain and a Usitatissimum variety from Chiltern seeds, UK, all mixed in! We sowed in rows about 20cm apart, into raked, lightly ploughed, stony soil that we did our best to clear. Then we stepped it in. It rained as we left and has been warm and damp since, so it’s looking good.

There’s also many little pockets around the country our seed has been sown – given away in little packs with seed to grow 1metre square of flax.

Meanwhile… we’re retting, drying and processing the Machynlleth crop.

And we’re practicing our spinning whenever we can, because the weaving has begun! Amber and Martine are students at Cardiff Metropolitan Uni and they’ve begun a wool warp linen weave, using our spun flax fibre. We’ll soon be making ‘things’ – using the fibre for cording and spinning to yarn to crochet, knit and weave, as well as trying ways of using the waste materials.