Papahoa Fibreworks 2026 Linen Grow Along
Hello friends,
I've been growing my own linen plants (Linum usitatissimum) for fibre production for many years, using the 'Essene' variety I purchased from Kōanga Institute in New Zealand. While there are other varieties better suited to producing textile linen, these aren't available in New Zealand and are difficult to import due to our strict biosecurity rules. So, working with what I have, I sow my own 'Essene' seeds each year, growing the plants both for linen fibre and to produce a fresh supply of seed for future seasons.
As you can see from these photos, our neighbour's cat Maisie is always very fond of my linen patch, and spends many happy hours playing, sitting, and sleeping among the plants. Luckily, linen bounces back into shape quite easily, so she doesn't do too much damage—and she's so cute that I just can't say no to her shenanigans.
Papahoa Fibreworks is a Canterbury-based Aotearoa New Zealand fibre business focused on developing locally grown, traceable natural textiles. They grow their own 'Essene' organic Linum usitatissimum (flax/linen) at their farm in Tai Tapu, where the plants are harvested and processed by hand to produce long-line linen fibre and tow for spinning. They also grow natural dye plants and operate a natural dye house, bringing together linen growing, fibre processing, natural dyeing, and textile production.
This year, Papahoa Fibreworks has started a Grow Along using their 'Essene' linen seed, following the plants from sowing through to processing, and I've decided to join them. I'm looking forward to growing their seed alongside other growers around New Zealand and joining their Patreon community over spring and summer. Plant growing can sometimes be a lonely learning experience, and I've found it's much more enjoyable when you can learn alongside others, and share tips and tricks along the way.
My seed packet from Papahoa Fibreworks has recently arrived, and contains enough linen seed to grow a 1 m² patch of plants.
The next step is to prepare the ground for sowing, and then work out the 100-day growing season, so I know when to sow and when to harvest the plants. My plan is to grow the linen to the stage where I can harvest it for both fibre and a fresh supply of seed. I'm looking forward to following the journey from seed to harvest and seeing what I can learn along the way.
Have a wonderful day,
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Quince Tree Pruning and Natural Dyeing
Hello friends,
I was running out of time this winter to prune our quince tree, and the job needed to get done before spring came and the tree began bursting its buds. So one warm and dry winter afternoon hubby and I got out our ladder, and the numerous pruning tools necessary for the job, and got to work taming our unruly quince tree.
My first aim was to get the vertical branches under control. If they were allowed to grow much further, the quince fruit would be out of reach, even with a ladder. The tree was also beginning to cast shade over my dahlias every afternoon, which definitely wasn't an allowed option either. With the area set up for the pruning job, it was time to look at the 4 'D's of plant pruning, remove dead, damaged, diseased, and dying branches, along with branches that crossed over other branches.
It didn't take very long at all to prune our quince tree, and turning it into a much smaller and tighter shape. With that done it was time to clean up the pruned quince branches.
Not wanting to waste the quince branches, I chopped them into smaller pieces and set them aside for a natural dyeing experiment. Apple and pear branches are well known among natural dyers for producing pink and peach shades from their bark, so I was curious to see whether quince being in the same family, might produce similar results.
As yet, I haven't had a chance to try this natural dyeing experiment, but in the meantime the quince wood chips have dried nicely and are now stored away for later. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see what colours they produce before too long.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
The Sweet Pea Project: Building a Trellis for My Growing Sweet Peas
Hello friends,
It's been over a month since my sweet peas were sowed, and the ones that germinated are growing strong, so strong that building a trellis for them became an urgent priority.
On the same day that we set up the trellis for the grapevine, we also made the trellis for the new sweet pea space. We had about 4 metres of wire netting left over, so we stretched it out over the left side backyard fence as far as it could go.
With that job done it was time to plant out the sweet peas that had germinated. Unfortunately a lot of the older sweet pea varieties didn't germinate, so there were only about 50 sweet pea plants to plant out.
With the plants all set out along the garden fence, they had only taken up 1.5 metres of the garden fence, which left a huge gap of the fence line bare. Luckily my seed sowing space in the glasshouse was now set up for spring seed sowing, so I pulled out some long trays, and sowed another 100 sweet peas.
I sowed the following varieties:
- Sapphire
- Burlesque
- Blue Butterflies
- Blue Reflections
- Brilliant Fragrance
- Spanish Dancer (new variety from Egmont seed order)
- Appalachia (new variety from Egmont seed order)
- Nimbus
- Swan Lake
- Original
I really hope that all these varieties germinate well, so I can get them out into the garden as soon as possible. If there is still a large space remaining in the sweet pea trellis, I'll direct sow more sweet peas in about a month. The bonus of this is that the sweet pea harvests will be staggered in spring and summer.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Tidying Up the Grapevine and Adding a New Trellis
Hello friends,
Our grapevine grows in the southeast corner of the backyard, trailing along a fence that has definitely seen better days. The fence has developed quite a lean away from the garden, and I'm fairly sure the only thing keeping it upright at this point is the grapevine itself.
Our eventual plan is to replace the east-side fence and hedges and build a new fence along that entire property boundary. This would give me a new section of usable garden—aka somewhere else to plant even more dahlias. Unfortunately, that's not a project we can tackle at the moment, so for now we're making the best of what we have.
With the fence at risk of falling and taking the grapevine with it, I allowed some of the new shoots growing from its base to develop last season. My plan was to establish a second section of grapevine along the southern fence as a backup. This fence gets full sun throughout the day, which should also provide better growing conditions for the grapes.
With the young vines lying on the ground for most of the winter, it was time to get them established along the southern fence. Hubby and I headed to our local Bunnings and picked up a 10-metre roll of wire netting. On a sunny winter afternoon, we unwound the netting along the fence and secured it in place with staple nails and a hammer.
After carefully untangling the young vines, it didn't take long to tie them up in three rows along the new trellis.
And I'm very pleased with the result. We now have a backup plan for the grapevine if the east-side fence eventually falls down, and in the meantime, the new vines should give us more grapes. It's a small job, but it has given our grapevine a much better growing space and hopefully a more secure future in the garden.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
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