(Linum usitatissimum); aka linseed; "Marilyn"; Minimum 50 seeds
Brown seeded flax is more commonly associated with fiber production yet is equally suited for a nutritious seed harvest. Home-grown flaxseeds are used for the same purpose(s) as commercially grown seed without the worry of how the plants were grown. We direct seeded the small seeds in early June and made several harvests of the dry seed heads through out the fall. Tight spacing results in a delightful blanket of airy blue blossoms and encourages the taller, straighter plants desirable for linen. Right before frost we harvested the plants whole by gently pulling them from the soil, removing any remaining pods before bundling and hanging them to dry.
Having taken the "Straw into Gold - Making Linen" class by traditional artisans Tom and Joanne Blodgett offered through Tillers International, someday when the project list slows we will try our hand at retting and processing the flax for linen.
Our seeds are typically 220 seeds per gram. When a handful of dried plants were threshed and the seeds weighed it came to a bit over 10 grams for 100 plants.
To harvest a pound of seed, you need to have 4200 plants to harvest. If you put 1 foot between rows and thin to 1 inch between plants, you would need a row 380 feet long, or, if planted in square, approximately 20 ft by 20 ft ( 400 sq ft).
If purchasing the 50 selected seeds, I would plant those seeds one by one, spacing 1.5 inches apart. This would give you one row just over 6 foot long. This more generous spacing tends to give you a great seed crop to be used in a larger grow out the following season.
