Dirigo Linum started with a couple of books, an idea, hundreds of square feet of discarded cardboard from a local restaurant’s new furniture, a couple pounds of seed, some borrowed tools, and a whole lot of will power. Chrystina Gastelum & Sean Hasey broke ground in May 2020 and planted a patch of about 200 square feet of long line flax on land owned by Niki & Jorge Cosineau and Scott McPheeters of Subcircle Residency. We tended this patch for about 100 days, along with some flowers intended for dye and pollinator food, and in September, we harvested the flax with help from community members, who without much cajoling agreed to wear all white and dance around a field with me getting dirty in the process. Jorge Cosineau documented the choreographed harvest.

We have yet to fully process the flax from 2021, but have plans to do that in workshops to build skills in the community. We also intend to plant a new, larger crop in 2022, and are hoping for financial support from a grant to help pay for tools, training, and other support.