She Grows Her Own Cloth Fiber

She Grows Her Own Cloth Fiber FARM HOME Clothes Raven Ranson makes yarn from plant fibers she grows herself Even though she lives near Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia her efforts have even included cotton However flax better fits her climate     “I really like yarn and growing things so I decided to combine my interests ” says Ranson     The do-it-her-selfer encourages people to give it a try like she has With the flax she started with a 1-gal pot of dirt and a pinch of seed     “I didn’t have fiber flaxseed so I just used flaxseed from the supermarket ” says Ranson “It worked fine Planted in my garden I can get enough flax from a 3 by 3-ft plot to make yarn for a towel ”     Ranson’s just try it attitude includes developing her own variety of flax and extends to timing “I tried planting it at various times and it was very forgiving Just plant it wait 2 to 3 months and harvest ”     She is proud of breaking lots of rules finding that sometimes the wrong way is a better way     Turning flax into yarn requires the aid of microbes in a process called retting to get rid of the glue that holds the fibers in the stem When sufficiently retted the stems are dried and smashed to break loose the fibers Once combed and worked the fibers can be spun into yarn for weaving     “Some people find it to be hard work but working with my sheep and dealing with a ram is a lot more work ” says Ranson     She describes the process in her book Homegrown Linen: Transforming Flaxseed into Fibre Due to be published in January the book covers growing flax in various conditions creating your own flax fiber variety and processing It also covers tools tips and tricks as well as other uses for flax     What it doesn’t cover is her work with other fibers such as cotton Here too she broke lots of rules starting with her seed and the idea that it could be grown so far north     “I used seeds from a floral display my first time Then I found seeds at Etsy com ” says Ranson “Finally I discovered them in the Baker Creek Seed catalog ”     Ranson grows colored cotton in shades of brown green and white growing them in an 8 by 10-ft greenhouse One crop of cotton in that space produces enough fiber to weave about 6 towels She reports getting a crop 3 out of 5 years as she experiments with growing it     “One thing I am trying to do with the book is to encourage people to experiment ” says Ranson “Just take a bucket or a plot and do half one way and half another See what results ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Crowing Hen Farm 5705 West Saanich Rd Victoria B C Canada V9E 2G1 ph 250 658-1909; farm@crowinghen ca; www crowinghen ca

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