9 sessions
First Tuesday of the Month*, from March through September, 6-8pm
Plus additional retting & processing dates
First Class March 6 @ Bee Space, 580 Powell St, Vancouver, BC V6A 0A5
All other sessions @ Trillium North Park, corner of Malkin & Thornton, Vancouver
Max 15
$220
(2nd Tuesday in April, 10th)
This program is now Full, thank you for your interest!
EartHand Gleaners Society is offering this popular program again!
Do you have an interest in gardening and textiles? This program is a chance to grow your own small flax crop for linen, learn how to spin with a drop spindle, have support through the process and share results with others in the group.
Meeting once a month, we’ll cover spinning, soil preparation, sowing, weeding, harvest, and how to process the flax straw into linen. Flax for linen is an easy-to-grow crop requiring full sun and 100 days from seed to harvest. Soil, water, light, microclimate and processing all affect the quality and feel of the resulting linen. First four sessions include seasonal instructions for month ahead and spinning time. The final three sessions take participants through the process of harvest, retting, rippling, breaking, scutching and hackling.
Cost includes seeds, a drop spindle, local linen fibre and Taproot Nova Scotia’s fibre for workshop spinning and access to equipment at processing times.
Seeds provided for a plot size up to 16 ft sq per person.
A final open studio day allows additional processing time at the end of season.
Retting Test Day Saturday Aug 11, 10-11am: come and see where our linen ret is at to know the look, feel and smell of flax when it is done retting.
Additional processing day: Saturday 8 September 12-5pm
Location: Trillium North Park– corner of Malkin and Thornton Street, Vancouver
About the Instructors
Rebecca Graham and Sharon Kallis have been growing linen in small Vancouver plots or larger out-of-city places since 2013, and have lots to share about growing a successful fibre crop. This is the second year they have offered a grow-along workshop and participants will have the opportunity to learn with each other in this friendly and supportive club.
March 6: History & lore of flax for linen, overview of the growing & preparation process, introduction to terms, introduction to spinning with drop spindle using TapRoot Farms’ prepared tow sliver
April 10: Choosing a planting spot, soil preparation, soil temperature, planting methods, germination; group planting the flax bed at Trillium; continuation of drop spindle
May 1: Weeding and maintenance; continuation of drop spindle
June 5: Irrigation, troubleshooting; continuation of drop spindle
July 3: When and How to harvest (possibly harvesting Trillium flax); how to dry, ripple and store (possibly rippling Trillium crop)
Aug 7: How to Ret — retting the Trillium flax crop.
Bring your flax for rippling and/or retting in the group
Aug 11: 10-11am Retting test day: see, touch, smell the retting process close to completion
Sept 4: Processing flax straw into linen – break, scutch, hackle. Bring your retted flax straw.
Sept 9: 12-4pm Additional processing day