Community Flax Retting & Rippling: Sustainable Arts Project Adventuring In A Derbyshire Front Garden
The Need For Celebration & Clarity
With great fanfare and aplomb (trumpets sound and cymbals clang), I'm thrilled to report the completion of the retting and rippling processing stages of the flax plants nurtured and harvested in my front garden.
This blog focuses on flax retting (a term meaning rotting) and rippling (again, another term used in the industry, meaning seed head removal). It continues the trial inspired by the traditional craft of flax rope-making, which supported the mining industry in my region of Derbyshire and a desire to discover more sustainable practices within community arts projects. I have often failed to recognise, record, consider and celebrate the stages of project management, preferring to steam ahead with the next challenge. These blog entries are my attempt to slow down and be more present; if I am not abiding by the mantra of 'mindful creation', how can I lead others to do the same when this project transfers into an actual community arts venture involving those around me?
During the community arts project flax retting and rippling processes, I faced the challenges of:
A myriad of methods, options and timings to research and consider.
Decide upon the most suitable trial methods based on what I thought would be the simplest, most cost-efficient and carbon-sensitive options.
Create clear and accessible instructions as, for my audience, no versions appeared suitable.
I continued to develop my methods using Miro, (an online collaborative whiteboard platform.) This allowed me to brainstorm and dive deeply into the stages I wanted to adopt for small-scale domestic flax growing, as all options and modifications can be considered.
My aim is not to follow the historical methods used to the letter but instead to be inspired and aligned with them as much as possible whilst melding them into a system that any household plot of land could easily use.
Once again, my trial community volunteers (the others living in my house) needed clear guidance in my absence as I was again working away. They led and implemented the flax plant retting and rippling using my Miro-generated perusals and instructions. Their dedication and resourcefulness in carrying out the tasks were commendable and a testament to the community spirit that underpins this project. Their feedback was that this was a hugely more achievable, swift and enjoyable part of the project - great information to know.
In addition to using Miro for instruction development, I continued to use Zoom, WhatsApp, text, and video calls to assess the flax and decide when it was ready to ret and ripple. This remote assessment allowed me to stay involved and guide the volunteers despite being abroad. Technology has been instrumental in facilitating effective communication and decision-making throughout the project.
Flax Retting In A Front Garden - To Water Or Dew Dip (Or Enzyme)?
I retted the flax through a traditional field or dew dip method of laying bundles of the flax plants (plus their roots) on the soil they were pulled from after harvesting. They were arranged in soldier formation, straight, true and with one bundle after another in line, a small flax regiment (see photographs.)
'Regimental' positioning allows the natural processes of dew, rain, and microbial activity to break down the pectins that bind the flax fibres to the core, resulting in (hopefully) quality fibres for future community textile art projects.
I love how Nature provides the the moisture from the morning, warmth from the day, and my mycelium soil friends play a part in the biomechanical process of dissolving much of the stem and pulling the fibres apart. In dew retting, the plant product is usually a darker brown/silvery grey colour than other methods, as seen in the provided photographs.
I have explored other retting methods, including water and enzyme/chemical retting, for consideration:
Water retting is the most widely practised method, producing the highest quality output. Here, bundles of stalks are submerged in water and often weighted down for eight to fourteen days. I have seen examples where harvested plants are left in slow streams, snow, ponds, bogs, paddling pools, hot tubs, tanks and baths; any water-holding receptacle with slow or stagnant water that allows the flax to lay flat and with water easily resting between the plants is a goer.
The key considerations that stopped this method from being chosen were: it stinks, caused by the mechanism working without oxygen; not all participants might have a suitable container; I wanted to produce a methodology that is as aligned to Nature as possible, and requires little/no additional resources to be manufactured or purchased; and, I can't guarantee that the receptacle filled with water will not be a dangerous hazard to potential household members such as children.
Chemical and enzyme retting uses synthetic and refined products to remove the fibres. This was discounted from the outset as the project aims to use the most naturally aligned and domestically accessible options at as many points of the process as possible.
The process of double retting is used to produce high-quality fibres. This involves removing the stems from the moisture source before completing the retting process. The stems are then allowed to dry before being returned to the water, dew source or chemical to complete the breaking down of the outer plant surface. At this stage of my learning, this seemed a trial step too far; I rely on KISS's 'Keep It Simple Stupid' design methodology whenever possible.
However, in all methods, the liquid penetrates the central stalk portion, which causes the inner cells to burst their outermost layer without causing fibre damage. This 'bursting' is advantageous because it increases the stem surface area, allowing for more water moisture absorption and access for the decay-producing mycelium or substances to quicken the process and provide the ideal decaying circumstances.
Water retting is an incredibly efficient process that ensures every part of the stem is fully covered, allowing for optimal 'bursting' to take place. In contrast, dew covers the plant more sporadically, resulting in a slower process. As speed and time are not factors, indeed are enemies of the mindful ideology, dew retting was selected for the trial. Derbyshire's climate provides the right conditions of dew and warm temperatures for this phenomenon.
I wanted to gain a better biological/microscopic understanding of retting, so I embarked on a Google research journey. Surprisingly, I couldn't find a single diagram that clearly explained the composition of the flax plant. Adding to the confusion, different terms are used to describe the same organic components. To alleviate this confusion, I decided to create my own diagram to visualise the mature flax plant before processing:
Retting time can be too long or too short, and getting this wrong is detrimental to the quality of the fibres. It's a gut-felt science affected by many variables, including the following:
Seed type
Soil
Moisture
Climate
Size of each bundle of plants
Effective turning of each bundle
Success of the 'bursting' process in each stem's cellular structure
After two weeks of retting, I chose to ripple (a practice which can be done mid-ret) and returned the plants to their battalion soil formation (see more detail below on essential rotation.) I cannot be sure whether this time is too long or short. However, two weeks is a manageable and memorable number to translate into the community instructions should my trial work.
What Is Flax Rippling?
Flax rippling involves removing the seeds and remaining debris from the flax stems during the retting process.
From my research, as mentioned previously, this is best done around two weeks after retting has started. The methods of rippling flax include by hand, which involves removing the seeds and debris by hand, and machine rippling, which uses mechanical equipment to achieve the same result.
Comb rippling is a mechanical process of removing seeds from flax plants. The flax plants are passed through a comb ripple machine, breaking the seeds' outer shell. After this process, the seeds are separated from the stems. This mechanical process replaced the traditional manual method of removing seeds by hand, making the extraction of flax seeds more efficient. Each method has its advantages and is chosen based on the scale of production and available resources.
I have bought a 'comb' (a small wooden hand-held device with widely spaced teeth) which allows seed removal to be done by hand, but opted not to add this to the test methodology, preferring to trial the most cost-effective and mechanically simple replicable method; so plain hands it was. Garden-gloved fingers or bare hands were used to smooth and tease the seeds away, dropping these liberated sources of growth onto a tarpaulin or tray laid beneath on the ground to catch the detritus.
I have seen this done with the stems in a pillow case and the contents then rolled under a rolling pin. Whilst this appears very effective at collecting all of the removed particles, there was something that appealed to me in how the hand removal method allowed a more tactile and soulful connection to Nature.
Volunteers reported enjoying the feeling of gently pulling stems and hearing the seeds drop to the ground - a mindful action one could argue that needed to be repeated over and over again.
The community volunteers performed flax rippling as part of the project, scooping one bundle up at a time for seed removal. The process is an essential step in preparing the flax for further processing, and the volunteers demonstrated great skill and care in carrying out this act, reporting how enjoyable it was.
Following the harvest, the seeds (including their capsule hoods and broken flax bits - all of which will require further refinement through winnowing to remove any unwanted organic matter) were meticulously gathered from the tarpaulin or flat surface and delicately arranged in a thin layer on basic household baking trays. They were then left to dry in a cool, well-ventilated place (such as the shed/office) and stored for the upcoming season. We are eagerly anticipating that these seeds will give rise to the plants for the next program in early spring, typically around March or April. These months provide the perfect conditions for the plants to thrive, allowing us to sustain the cycle of flax cultivation and traditional craft practices within our community without any additional financial investment. It's truly exciting to witness this sustainable and traditional approach continuing to flourish within our community!
After rippling, the small bundles of flax were rotated on the soil. This process is essential because it helps ensure that the stems are equally exposed to the air, moisture and sunlight, promoting efficient retting and preventing mould or mildew development. Additionally, gently rotating the bales and keeping them straight helps to minimise the risk of tangling or matting the flax fibres, resulting in higher quality and ease when further processing.
Rotating for me was done once a week, top to bottom and end to end, to ensure good exposure of all sides of each plant stem to the elements and soil bacteria.
It was reasonably wet this summer in the UK, so no additional water was sprayed onto the bundles. Should the climate have been dry and hot, I would have been ready to sprinkle the stems with water from a watering can.
The Holy Grail Of Retting
The key learning from this stage is summarised beautifully in the article 'Linen Fiber: The Manufacturing Process and Fabric Care' by Eman Abdallah Kamel in 2022:
'The retting process must be done carefully. If the flax is not completely retted, the plant stem cannot be separated from the fibers without injuring the sensitive fibers. Too much retting will weaken the flax fibers.'
Should I have got this right? Only the gods know!
Conclusion
Completing the retting and rippling processes has been a significant achievement, and it marks a crucial step forward in understanding how collaborative textile practitioners can utilise locally sourced materials and generate even more for little revenue and with high joy for community art projects. It has made me refine my research, make production decisions, and align with devising a system that honours our community's history whilst paying due regard to ease, cost and nature protection.
