Cultivation of Flax Today
Since the recent boom in flax use in food products, flax cultivation has spread worldwide to cover about 12 million acres. The largest flax-producing countries are Canada and China, with 34 and 26 percent of global production, respectively. In the United States, flax is grown almost exclusively in the northern Midwest, including Minnesota, Montana, and the Dakotas. The fast-maturing, cool-season crop requires an earthy loam high in minerals, similar to wheat and oats, and could actually be planted in most Eastern states.
The flax plant itself grows up to three feet and bears small blue flowers. The flowers eventually develop into round capsules, each containing 4-10 glossy, oil-rich seeds. The seeds are flat and round, and range in color from yellow-gold to reddish-brown.
The seeds are planted in early spring; the sprouts reach five inches in eight weeks. The plants are susceptible to a variety of pests and diseases, although it requires less pesticide use than other common crops. Several of the most severe diseases, such as wilt and rust, have been overcome by new strains and varieties of disease-resistant flax. Soil nutrients should be replenished by planting flax on a rotating crop basis.
Flax is ready for harvesting about 100 days after planting, or once 90 percent of the seed capsules have turned brown. It's important to track flax growth carefully, since the seed will not be usable if harvested to early and late harvest degrades the fiber.
Most flax crops are now grown for seed and harvested with mowing equipment, similar to hay harvesting. The crops are more difficult to harvest than most small grains because of its higher susceptibility to moisture; however, the harvesting process is easier on machinery since the seeds are slippery and don't often break. Flax can either be combined immediately or be left to dry in the field before combining. The latter can be more practical, since immediate combine can lead to more weeds in the flax, which affects its marketability. After threshing, seeds are either packaged for sale, pressed for oil, or ground for flaxmeal.
Flax grown for its fiber is typically harvested manually by uprooting the entire plant to maximize the fiber length. It is then left in the field to dry and be retted, which is a process through which moisture and micro-organisms help ease the separation of the flax outer shell from the inner fiber.
Flax grown for both seed and fiber undergo threshing, or the removal of seeds from the rest of the plant. Now, this is done almost exclusively in the field by a machine, although a separate process involving multiple machines is sometimes used for flax harvested for both seeds and fiber.
Removing the outer shell from the soft inner fiber is a process known as dressing the flax. This is done in a three-step process using wooden implements almost identical to those used in the Middle Ages for the same purpose. First, the straw is broken into smaller pieces and the outer casing is cracked open. The next process is called scutching, which removes the fiber from the broken casing. Finally, the fiber is drawn through heckling combs, which removes the last remnants of the straw and splits and polishes the fiber.
When storing flax after harvesting, as with storing flax products in the kitchen, it is important to keep both the fibers and seeds free of excess moisture. Storing seeds is especially problematic, since the seeds are so slippery that people have been known to suffocate by submerging fully and suddenly in a large bin. Flax packaged for sale should be vacuum-sealed to ensure maximum freshness.
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