You haven’t heard from me for awhile, but not to worry. I am alive and well and have been busy working on fiber projects. In 2019 I made a dress from my homegrown cotton and flax/linen that won Best in Show at the Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier Station, Virginia. The photo shows me in that dress and the shirt made from homegrown cotton and flax/linen. I have always said that we are living in exciting times. I think I will change that to we are living in crazy times. I could never have anticipated the conditions we are living in now, and that is why I am writing.
With so many people at home and spring springing, it would be natural to think of starting a garden. It is a big endeavor to undertake and a lot to learn. Learning is the key here. Children are home and, since you need to be the teacher, you might as well teach them how to feed themselves. I would imagine all the subjects they need to keep sharp in will be covered while you and your children decide what you want to eat, what will grow in your area, how many seeds to order, how to lay out your garden, and the list goes on and on. I taught people how to plan a garden to feed themselves at our local community college for over a decade and know that it is a lot to process in a short time.
Besides feeding ourselves, we also need to consider the soil and to grow cover crops to feed back to it. I produced the DVD Cover Crops and Compost Crops IN Your Garden to teach that part. As for the garden planning, I produced the DVD Develop a Sustainable Vegetable Garden Plan. That video shows how to put together a notebook with your complete plan, thinking through all you need to do. It includes a CD with the planning sheets I developed for my college classes. I have also written the book Grow a Sustainable Diet that has information that you will be introduced to in the DVDs, plus more about planning your diet and considerations for planning your permaculture homestead.
I made these videos and wrote the book so that people who couldn’t take my classes could have access to the material for their own education. Together you have the book, lectures, handouts (worksheets), and field trips. You see me in my garden and, in the garden planning video, you see seven other gardens and the gardeners who manage them. They range from a very small backyard garden to a half-acre market garden. These materials are part of the curriculum at the college, but you can use them to learn at home.
If you want to take this journey, the DVDs and book are available from my website at www.HomeplaceEarth.com. You’ll see that I’ve also written Seed Libraries. Maybe some of you experienced gardeners may find that helpful to start a seed sharing program in your community. The complete name of that book is Seed Libraries and other means of keeping the seeds in the hands of the people. Besides these basic learning materials to get you started, you will find free continuing education in past posts at this blog.
I hope you take time in our rapidly changing world to slow down, catch your breath, and enjoy the unique opportunity that is facing you right now. Plant a garden and enjoy where it takes you.
Cindy! It’s great to hear from you and to know you’re doing well, winning prizes and carrying the torch. If you ever want to write about gardening with children, or for yourself, small spaces, etc, for Kindred, I’m still here too, ha. http://www.kindredmedia.org [29]
Big hugs to you!
Lisa
Thanks Lisa, but I’ve been focusing my attention on fiber and am writing a book about growing your own clothes–working title From Seed to Garment. I have yet to nail down a publisher. One of these days people are going to wake up and realize they need to pay attention to where their clothes come from and how the people and the earth are compensated for making them available. With what is going on now, though, I couldn’t resist writing this post.
Hi Cindy,
I’ve been reading you posts about flax and I had a question. It sounds like flax like things a little cooler than what I am experiencing right now. I got a last start with planting and the flax is about 2 feet tall and most of it has bloomed. Can I expect more growth in this next month before I harvest? Or did my late start (planted early May) stunt thing? I’m not too disappointed as this is my first year with flax and I expect I might mess up a bit more as I learn to process it. Will the shorter strands still be marketable? Thanks! Carol
Carol, you don’t say where you are, but I assume wherever it is, it is a climate like mine here in Virginia. Yes, flax likes it cooler, but this is what you have to work with this year. I usually count on pulling it about 30 days after full flower. It is in full flower in May here from a planting in March. I would wait and give it a chance to grow more, but you would want to water it well in this heat. I assume you aren’t growing this to sell, but to use yourself, so you are asking if it is workable, not marketable. Whatever you have to harvest is what you have to work with. If it is short strands, then that’s what you will be working with. It will be a lesson to get it planted in March next year. There are no mistakes, only learning experiences.
Cindy, thanks for getting back to me so promptly. I am in Iowa, which is about 90 degrees with 80-90 percent humidity right now. I have been watering but not heavily, hoping to keep the soil temp reasonable. I’m thinking August 1 is my approximate harvest date. I’m not a spinner, but am looking for a small scale marketable crop for my small “homestead” acreage (4 acres). I started this year with about 50 sq feet just to try it out. I’m planning to go through the whole process to see if it is something I enjoy before I jump in the deep. I am looking at this year as a learning opportunity. Are you able to continue with your workshops given the current Covid restrictions? Thanks, Carol
The flax I grow is very valuable to me because I receive a lot of satisfaction in making clothes for myself from it. However, I personally wouldn’t grow it as a market crop if I wanted to make money from it. My yield of line flax (what results from processing and is flax ready to spin) might be about 6 oz. per 100 sq. ft., more of less. Although the harvest may look like a lot, the actual yield of line flax might only be 1-2% of the weight at harvest. Of course, in addition there would be a good amount of tow produced, but I don’t know of a way to make money from that. There is more work involved get it to something to spin. As for growing it on a larger scale, you might take a look at what the Chico Flax project is doing in California and the Rust Belt Fibershed is doing in Ohio. Both projects depend on a lot of volunteers. I had two Grow Your Own Clothes Workshops planned for June, but had to cancel them in March. One was full and the other almost full when I cancelled.