Flax – a small plant with a big name.
Linum usitatissimum means “most useful” and the flax plant, an annual herb, typically growing to 3-4 feet with slender stems and pale green, lance-shaped leaves produces delicate blue flowers lasting around 2 weeks. Cultivated here for a thousand years, it can become food, linen, building materials and more.
The fibres are processed and are the raw material for linen and France is a major source providing around three-quarters of world supply. The seeds (linseed) are high in omega-3 fatty acids, fibre, protein and anti-oxidants. Linseed oil is not only a dietry supplement but used in paints and varnishes.
Last year Totnes Grows Flax got more than 100 residents involved, planting seeds and later harvesting the crop which is 100% useful for all the above uses
This year TGF is back and its first event is on March 14 at the Civic Hall.
Zoe Gilbertson started the project with Transition Town Totnes after becoming inspired by a flax growing community project in the Netherlands. Zoe, a Schumacher College graduate, says small scale growing brings people together to learn about an ancient craft.
The launch event is the place to get your free seeds and learn how to cultivate the plant. Harvesting and retting – the process which makes the plant stalks useable – will be a community event like last year.
