Hi Pam, Thanks for bringing up the issue of harvesting-- I had forgotten to mention it before. It is true that the fibers become increasingly coarse as the plant ages. For the most pliable linen fibers, my research indicated that it should be harvested when the stem was still green and only the top leaves had begun to yellow. It is a fine line between allowing the plant to grow to its full height to get the longest fibers, and waiting too long and allowing the fibers to coarsen. I think that is one of those pieces of knowledge that used to be widespread once upon a time, that we now must relearn. Of course, to harvest for seeds, the plant will be completely brown and the seed pods dry. That was the main reason that my first planting was to harvest more seeds-- you need to plant enough to obtain the fiber and still have plants left over that you allow to go to seed. And I didn't have too many seeds in the original packets! I do believe that past generations harvested at different times depending on market pressures-- if you could get more money for coarse linen for sacking or everyday linens, then you would harvest accordingly. If you had a market for very fine threads for lacemaking, you harvested with that in mind. But I don't think there was ever a danger of forgoing the harvest of fiber in favor of a harvest for food, because different strains were (and are) used for oil and culinary used than for fiber. The seeds of the fiber strains have significantly less oil in within them and are not well suited for oil extraction. The strains with a greater oil content that were used for cloth or linseed oil, were much less suited for fibers. They tend to be shorter, coarser fibers that made a weaker thread. I would love to get updates on how your friend progresses with her flax work. Please keep us posted!
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