Hemp and flax are the most well-known bast fibers, followed perhaps by ramie, a nettle-like plant native to eastern Asia used for coarse fabrics and rope. I too have gotten relatively thick and stiff cordage rather than soft linen-type fibers, but I … Showing page 1. (Photo on the left by Nicholas Wenner, on the right by Paige Green). Milkweed floss, seed fiber of common milkweed and certain other North American plants in the family Apocynaceae. In handtruth, the use of milkweed is nothing casenew. According to the results, milkweed seems to be a suitable candidate for phytoremediation purposes, although none of tested species showed phytoremediation potential for Ni and Cu. The leaves of the plant yield a lovely butter yellow, I live in Massachusetts and we've made several visits to Plimoth Plantation where we have seen the Native American interpreters using milkweed bast fibres to make various items. Alongside milkweed, it was the finest of the fibers we processed, and dogbane fibers were similar in length to those of nettle. The sizes of the stalks and the fiber yields from each stalk are similar to those of some hemp. Commercially important plant fibers The use of floss as an emergency material during World War II es­ tablished the plant's potential value (8). You can make rope or natural cordage (rope and string) from many different fibers including (Bast) Dogbane, Milkweed, Nettles, Hemp, and straw. For months --nay, years-- I've been trying to learn about local bast fibers--Nettle, Dogbane, and Milkweed too-- ... How did you get the Milkweed fiber so clean and clear looking. As a vigorous, perennial source of fine fiber and habitat, dogbane has much promise as a component in regional fiber systems. Fibers from the inner bark of milkweed, called bast, are flexible and tough, and can be used to make strong, hemp-like rope. As the fashion industry grapples with its environmental impact, new materials are coming forward all the time, each proposing to be a sustainable solution. And I love to process it in Winter. Pull bast off of the inner core Soak overnight. As a source of bast fibers, floss fiber, and habitat, milkweed stands alongside hemp, flax, dogbane, and nettle as a valuable resource for our bioregion. Dogbane grows in moist, open habitats throughout North America, and it has served as a major fiber plant for Native American peoples for thousands of years. With materials from each plant, we developed a Bast Fiber Exhibit for the 2019 Fibershed Gala and the 2019 Wool and Fine Fiber Symposium to provide both a tactile understanding of bast fiber processing and a hands-on comparison between fiber types. Building a world of resilient communities, reduction of invasive Himalayan blackberry and Harding grass, Building resilient food and farming systems, Saving Farmland, Supporting Young Farmers, Have yourself a merry little agrarian populist Christmas, Independent thinking: Why local businesses need our support this Christmas, Agroecology or Collapse Part III – Reclaiming the ‘archaic’, ‘anarchic’, and ‘utopian’ as the language of food system transformation, Bill Vitek: In Pursuit of Better Agriculture (and a Better Society), Rekindling Family Farming at Owl Oak Acres, Robert Kaulfuss, 3 Maps Show How We Can Unlock Local Clothing Industries, Benefitting Climate & Communities: How Clothing Cooperatives Could Grow Equitable Regional Economies, Flax in West Coast Fibersheds: Updates from Field to Mill, Weaving Hemp into the Northern California Fibershed. I had loosely rolled—but very fluffy—rolags in just a few minutes. Milkweeds are named for an abundant, milky-white latex “sap” that seeps from injured portions of the plant. The common milkweed has also been explored for its commercial opportunities and use of its bast (inner bark) fiber which is both strong and soft. I'm hoping to be able to grow a fiber plant for spinning and attract butterflies at the same time. Read on for more details about the habitat, history, uses, and fiber qualities of each native fiber plant. In addition to working with hemp and flax last year ... and milkweed — into fiber suitable for spinning into yarn. Bast fibers have a long relationship with humans: the earliest known fibers used by humans include wild flax fibers from 34,000 years ago found in a cave in the country of Georgia. The nettle fiber we processed came from a subspecies of nettle known as hoary nettle (Urtica dioica ssp. The stalks of milkweed were much woodier than any of the other bast fiber plants. Dogbane supports several species of moths and provides abundant nectar to pollinators. In length, they were shorter than hemp and flax fibers and similar to those of dogbane. Whence, also, a person’s desires, whether good or evil, are stirred up through it... -Hildegard of Bingen, Physica. Nettle grows wild in wet areas, often by rivers and lakesides. As a bast fiber, the stems were a reliable source of cordage for Native Americans. In a rare silver lining to recent fires in the region, the patch burned in 2017 as part of the Tubbs Fire, and those tending the patch now report vigorous and healthy growth, partly due to the reduction of invasive Himalayan blackberry and Harding grass. Both the bast fiber and the floss were used historically by Native Americans for cordage and textiles. While the bast fibers were quite short—seldom reaching more than one inch long—they were extremely fine, similar to those of dogbane. Milkweed is easily identifiable from mid-season on by the bulbous pods and the stems that exude a "milky" white, sticky sap. The composition of the milkweed fibers was measured in terms of the cellulose and lignin content. Making Paper from Milkweed . Europeans gave the Latin name Apocynum cannabinum to the plant because of the similarity between its fiber and that of hemp (Cannabis sativa). American Associ ation of Textile Chem ists and Colorists, “AATCC. Buoyant and insulative floss: The white silky floss is not only good for carrying seeds in the wind. Milkweed species also have benefits as habitat, providing strong nectar sources for pollinators and the sole habitat for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. Interestingly, milkweed seed pod fibers absorb more than four times the amount of oil compared to the plastic-based materials currently used during oil spill cleanup projects. Although milkweed fibre does not collapse upon drying despite having a low cell wall thickness, it does collapse during chemical treatments [30,[47] [48] [49]. Purple milkweed is used as a contraceptive and an abortifacient. At thattime, we had about five years' experience growing milkweed in research plotsand there seemed to be a good fit betw… Nevertheless, blending milkweed fibers with down remains the best way to improve smoothness ratings; reducing fiber length did not reduce matting as much as the blending of down with milkweed fibers. 64 likes. Other kinds of milkweed have bast fiber of differing strengths. As an educator, I wanted to support academic work on sustainability issues. In fact, many landscapers and home gardeners struggle with dogbane taking over the areas they tend, and in some agricultural contexts the plant is considered a weed and competes well enough to create significant yield losses in fields of soy, corn, and other crops. 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