08/28/2026
Farmer Friday: Flax Harvest Process 👨🌾
In July, we shared that we harvested our flax and brought it to the greenhouse for processing. We want to share a little more about what that actually means. Once the fresh, green flax comes in from the field in bundles, we break those bundles open and lay the flax out to dry so each strand can get some sunlight and plenty of airflow. Once we get the flax to the light color we want, we stack it up and keep it dry. Handful by handful, the crop is then rippled by our farmers. Historically, the seeds would have been saved and used to plant the next year's crop.
The next step is retting. Here at Landis Valley, we use tank retting. We fully submerge our rippled flax in water and let it soak and rot for about a week. And yes, tank retting can be very... smelly. Why? Microorganisms, especially bacteria, are breaking down the parts of the plant that hold the fibers to the woody stem. As the flax sits underwater, the water becomes low in oxygen, and the bacteria produce gases and other compounds that give off that strong rotten smell.
Once we're happy with it, we pull the whole batch out of the tank and lay it as thin as possible across our slatted tables to sun and air dry. Once the flax is fully dry, we have a cash crop that can be used by people all across the country. Artists, craftspeople, and museums take our retted flax and break, heckle, spin, and weave it into linen.
Interested in learning more about how to grow your own fabric? Come visit the Textile Barn, or sign-up for our Field to Fabric class next summer. Want to try your hand at it sooner? We offer our flax for sale by the pound, both retted and unretted, so you can try working with this historic fiber yourself. Our store is now open for orders. Bring a little piece of Landis Valley's flax tradition home with you and see what you can make with it!
