By Angela Wartes-Kahl

The difference between hand-pulling fiber flax and mechanical pulling is so dramatic we can't explain the euphoria we feel when it all works out. To get to this point, logistics and preparation before harvest have become our all-consuming priority. Here are some issues and resolutions from the 2024 fiber harvest.

We had a tricky engine starter that barely made it through the 2023 flax-pulling season. I live between two farms in Washington and Oregon and couldn't get to Oregon early enough this season to assess the starter issue, so the repair process felt very last minute.  Our RGA puller has an old Deutz engine with Bosch injectors; I say old, but really, it's from 1990 and only has about 1000 engine hours on it. The manufacturers have passed away, and the company that made the machine no longer exists in Belgium. Plus, it's a Union machine base with considerable changes to the belts and table (upper machine), meaning we have no user manual. The starter is old enough that finding a replacement was complicated, but thanks to our diesel mechanic, Walz's rebuild in Salem, and many phone calls, we found a replacement on the West Coast. Then, speedy delivery to the farm site, installation, crank the key… nothing happened. Tracked all the wires back; one was not connected to the alternator, fixed it, and the Puller started right up! Annual maintenance does include:

• Changing the fuel filter.
• Oil change.
• Evaluate whether you want to change the filters for the hydraulics.

I should've done that last one… I reasoned that we had only used it briefly in the 2023 season.  This will come back to haunt me later during harvest.

Thanks to Adrian, a local hauler, we moved the Puller and Turner from @garnettsredprairefarm to @osohoney. Out in the field, greased all the casters on the belt system, filled with new diesel, and we're off. The first pass went well, and then the problems started. This is where I need to note the seeding rate critically. We used a Brillion Broadcast Seeder with a small John Deere tractor. The calibration for the seeder took a few rows, and really, it could've been as high as 120 pounds an acre at the beginning of the field. It meant we were entering the thickest part for the first pull. I was going too fast, and my belt speed was too low.

​I made it through the first pass, and then, as I turned the corner, we hit the highest-density stems, and the whole thing choked up. I stopped the Puller, stopped the belts, and in trying to clear all the jammed flax, two of the belts started to come off their rollers. It becomes a three-person job with pry bars and mallets to get everything back in order. We begin again, trying to miss the most densely planted areas, but end up in the same situation about a dozen times throughout the rest of the day. Only at the very end was I able to get into a better density of flax. A combination of slow speed, high RPMs, and increased belt speed made all the difference. Late in the day, we found a hydraulic leak on the top rollers at the apex of the belts and the back table. Small hydraulic motors run practically everything on the Puller. Jason ran into town for hydraulic fluid while we took a break in the field. With a refill, we were able to finish pulling the Lisette variety. 

Wait, there's more… because of the high-density planting, there were small stems about half the height of the rest of the crop; they didn't have any branching at the top and maybe only one seed boll. This meant they remained in the field, standing and perching up our windrow of pulled flax. This created a wave across the field and suggested that several sections of flax did not have direct contact with the soil. With the bumpy terrain, I couldn't keep the outer guide at the edge of each pass, so sections of a few stems would be unpulled in a fine line, holding the flax windrow above the ground. I hope the Turner will flatten some of these uneven sections when we turn the crop next week.

The next day, we began to pull the Christine variety. This is an entirely different story. The seeding rate is reasonable. I know now to go slower with higher RPMs and belt speed, and we picked up some hydraulic stop-leak product at the NAPA store on the way to the field. This did the trick, and the leak on the rollers was only a drip. We got through the entire day of pulling Christine with only one jam! The laydown of the crop also looks much better than the Lisette.

Thankfully, we have a wide crack in one of the top belts on the Puller, which did not give way during harvest. The machine came with three replacement belts, which will be a fun job over winter. Also, we need to replace the hydraulic seal on the rollers.

There was a little rain on Monday and Tuesday, promoting a nice field retting. The front wheel on the Turner had a missing pick-up rod, which looks like it broke off many years ago. I took the wheel off and brought it to our local neighborhood welder to see if he could replicate the same one from the other side of the wheel. This will help guide the flax windrow onto the pick-up wheel and the belts.

I'm turning flax next week, and we'll report on our progress.

The Fibers Fund supports building an equitable and regenerative domestic fiber and textile industry, both to combat the negative environmental and social impacts of the mainstream global textile industry and to support small businesses working on better alternatives.

The Fibers Fund recognizes that flexible sources of capital are necessary to supply businesses in the fibers sector with financial capital that meets specific needs at the right time, advance the adoption of climate beneficial agricultural processes that are rooted in cultural knowledge and heritage, and increase sector access to fair and just financing tools. Rebuilding U.S. natural fiber ecosystems is our opportunity to invest in change.

​The first set of five grants of the fibers fund was awarded for business technical assistance and capacity building. Exciting to begin executing the vision of this fund, which is to support U.S.-based, small to mid-scale regenerative and sustainable natural fiber and dye businesses. This first set of grantees represents an array of entrepreneurs and businesses who are part of expanding soil-based natural fiber ecosystems—across supply networks and domestic bioregions.

Catalytic Grants
Two grants were awarded to businesses profiled in the SAFSF Fibers Roadmap Case Studies: Seattle-based Botanical Colors and Oregon-based Fibrevolution. Botanical Colors offers natural dyes sourced from regional organic and regenerative farmers. They also provide natural dye education to textile and fiber artisans. Fibrevolution has a vision for the revival and establishment of regional fiber manufacturing hubs for bast fiber located in strategic growing regions around the U.S. These grants will help Botanical Colors and Fibrevolution unlock other sources of capital. Learn more on our Portfolio page.

Black Fiber Cohort
We are thrilled to introduce the inaugural Black Fiber Cohort. Envisioned and facilitated by Fibers Fund Co-Managing Director Teju Adisa-Farrar, the Cohort will provide tailored support to early-stage and emerging Black fiber entrepreneurs as their businesses grow. Environmental and cultural equity requires meeting Black entrepreneurs where they are at by recognizing historical and current disenfranchisement, and responding with nuanced support. Having a dedicated cohort prioritizes access and attention for each of the businesses’ particular needs. This inaugural group of amazing entrepreneurs and brands represents the possibilities for creating sustainable and equitable fiber ecosystems:

Kept Studio: Brooklyn, NY. Kept Studio by artist Kesiena Onosigho is a textile studio, natural dye processor, botanical pigment + ink producer, and knit development processor. This grant will provide technical assistance for business structure and set-up, along with planning support to obtain a permanent studio with garden space.

ROOLE: Durham, NC. ROOLĒ by Gordon Holliday is an upcycle and bio-fashion brand focused on reworking natural fibers. This grant will support the development of a local regenerative supply network for ROOLĒ—including partnering with a local Black organic cotton farmer—to produce a bespoke collection for NYFW 2024.

MAHDIYYAH: New Jersey. MAHDIYYAH by Mahdiyyah Muhammad is a circular fashion brand with a focus on upcycled apparel exclusively using natural fibers. This grant will facilitate sourcing of soil-based textiles and natural dyes from small regenerative farmers for the purpose of creating a research-based collection, and doing free community workshops.

diẹ̀diẹ̀ textile farm & studio: Piedmont, North Carolina. Adé Oni is the dynamic creative behind diẹ̀diẹ̀ textile farm + production studio, which is a locally-scaled textile farm and raw textile material production space. We provide low-carbon, raw, processed, and value-added cellulose-fiber and natural dye materials and educational experiences to the Piedmont NC bioregion and beyond. dièdiè is being designed and developed as a hybrid worker/producer cooperative business that centers regenerative land care, African and Indigenous material culture and craftways, ecological presence, creative expression, and healing justice. 

A fabulous night with Bonnie Wright of Go Gently and Pattie Gonia at the Go Gently Gathering hosted by Arborbrook Winery. Go Gently is producing an upcoming television series exploring the West Coast of America while meeting a beautiful spectrum of people all working to protect and celebrate the magic of our planet. This amazing wreath was our centerpiece, constructed by the Bundle Collective from Fibrevolution's stash of fiber flax crops. The gathering included a great panel of climate activists from urban farmers to mycologists, a vat of bubbling indigo dye from Vibrant Valley Farm, spoon carving, honey, sea otter conservation, and the constant flow of biodynamic/organic wine from our hosts. Night to remember! Thank you for inviting the Fibrevolution team! We can't wait to watch the upcoming tv series.

*This flax wreath is now on display in the Arborbrook Winery 

Announcing the North American Linen Association (NALA)!!

We're so excited to announce that the North American Linen Association (NALA) is officially open for Membership!
JOIN HERE: northamericanlinen.org/

Connecting over the shared challenges of building a fiber flax to linen supply chain in North America, a group of agricultural growers, brands, businesses, researchers, and representatives from community projects in emerging regions came together and identified the need for an industry association to align efforts at building the domestic flax to linen supply chain.
 
In September 2022, the North American Linen Association (NALA) was formed as a 501(c)(6) organization with headquarters in McMinnville, Oregon, to serve members throughout North America.
 
NALA brings together interest groups from all stages of the supply chain to share in infrastructure development, networking, best practices, and marketing campaigns to promote fiber flax agriculture, bast fiber processing infrastructure, textile manufacturing, and co-products in North America. NALA also serves to connect regional fiber flax industry clusters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Vermont, the Pacific Northwest, Nova Scotia, Victoria, Manitoba, and beyond.
 
Please join us in rebuilding the linen supply chain in North America and become a Member of NALA today!
​JOIN HERE: northamericanlinen.org/

​An exciting step forward for the Fibrevolution team! We are scaling up our fiber flax trials and will be utilizing a mechanical flax puller to harvest this crop. Fall planting allows us to grow fiber flax in our region without the need for irrigation. This field will be harvested in June 2022. We have partnered with the Yamhill County Historical Society to restore a flax puller that they have in their collection, for use on our fiber flax trials. We have dug hard to find one of these machines in the USA, and this is the only flax puller we have found still in existence in America. Thankful for the support from our community as we all believe in the viability of linen production in Oregon, and together envision it's revival in our region. Stay tuned for more...

Listen to PODCAST here: podcast.ausha.co/roots-routes-of-linen/fibrevolution

"Welcome to ROOTS & ROUTES of LINEN, the podcast which pass the mic to actors and lovers of the linen industry in Europe. Today I welcome a special guest, Shannon WELSH, co-founder of Fibrevolution. Fibrevolution’s mission is to bring flax and linen production back to the state of Oregon (and really the United States!).

For 4 years Fibrevolution’s team has been immersed in all things flax and linen - and you know what? Flax grows beautifully in Oregon! From the time of the early settlers until the 1960’s fiber flax was a dominant crop in Oregon. During this period Oregon developed the only flax industry in the United States.
Shannon Welsh and Angela Wartes-Kahl, co-founders of Fibrevolution, vision is to build an economy that values people, work, plants and the land at every step of the process. They have teamed up with farmers, textile professionals, manufacturers, seed breeders and university researchers in their community, who are as much as inspired as Shannon and Angela to participate in the revitalization of flax and linen in the Pacific Northwest.
​
Enjoy the episode!"