How flax is grown and harvested

Flax for linen is pulled up by the roots, then left in dew or water until the stalks rot away from the fibers.

stations: 3
things downstream: 5

The short version

Flax is sown in cool temperate fields and grows for about 100 days. For linen it is pulled with its roots when the stalk bases turn yellow, which keeps the fibers as long as possible. The bundles are then retted, soaked or left in dew, until microbes rot the woody core and loosen the fibers.

Sow in deep loam

Flax does best in deep loams rich in organic matter and fails in heavy clay or gravel. It needs few fertilizers or pesticides and reaches about 3 feet tall.
Pull it before it browns

The crop is ready after about 100 days, a month after flowering, when the bases of the plants start to turn yellow. Green plants have underdeveloped fiber, and once the stalks turn brown the fiber starts to degrade, so timing decides the quality.

about 100 days
Ret the stalks

Bundles of stalks lie in a pond, stream or tank, or spread in a field under dew, until microbes break down the glue holding fiber to the woody core. Field retting takes a month or more but gives the best fiber, and warm tank water at 27 °C can finish in 4 or 5 days.

a month or more in the field

End of the lineFlax Next it goes into kitchen sponge, linseed oil, banknote and 1 more.

Worth repeating

Spun, dyed and knotted wild flax fibers found in a cave in Georgia date to about 30,000 years ago.
France produced 75% of the world's raw or retted flax in 2022.