Daffodil Weave

5th July 2025

During the busy run-up to the opening of Flaxen I was very pre-occupied with finishing the work and then away hanging the exhibition. The allotment was left to tick over pretty much in its own. A friend watered the greenhouse when I was away. Last week, back from Cornwall, I was able to give the plot some proper attention. The grass path down the side of the plot and the grass under the fruit trees gets wild and full of vigorous plants at this time, so needs a strim every so often to keep it mainly as grass and so that I can move about the uneven paths safely. The bindweed, nettles and bramble that grow amongst the hedge start to encroach on the path and across towards the growing beds. So, my clearing is combined with harvesting. A bucket of bindweed stems carefully removed from the rest of the debris become the first lot of bundles put to dry on canes in the shed – a bindweed kebab. I cut a few nettles for stripping the fibre. Not everything can be ‘harvested’ but doing what clearing needs to be done with a mind to keeping what I can means a fruitful session.

The growing beds were then weeded systematically. My courgette plants were struggling to get going with the hot weather we’ve had, so these were given extra watering attention over a period of days. They are looking happier now. We also had some good rain this week, just when things were getting desperately dry again. Some areas inevitably lack attention. The strawberry and raspberry beds are in quite an over-grown state. The soft fruit will all need picking in the coming week, so priorities must be set. I have a glut of lettuces. They are lush and plentiful, but we can’t keep up, and some are starting to bolt. I have sown more as the succession is always the hardest part to keep going, even though there seem to be way too many just now.

The sweetcorn has been planted out amongst the squash, so they will form a duo version of the three sisters. I am still to put out the tiny leeks and a few brassicas that were kept back when I planted most of the rest.

The flax is doing well now and is flowering away in its pleasing rows. Hoeing between the rows to keep them weed free is satisfying – I’ve never grown it in rows before. The stems are shorter than they might be if they’d had more water earlier on, but they seem happy enough. The tallest are at waist height.

I’ve taken the dried daffodil leaves home now after finishing their drying in the shed. I’ve started some new work using daffodil - work in progress shown at the top of this post. It’s interesting to get to know it in a slightly different way to previously. I’m weaving with it on a linen warp on my big tapestry loom, whereas previously I’ve used it as cordage or on a ‘warp’ of its own stems. I have two batches of daffodil leaves. One was given to me by a friend and is silvery and quite robust. The ones I have from my own plot are more yellow and generally a little finer. It will be interesting to compare how they turn out as similarly woven panels, side by side. The woven surface always looks so different to the dried tangle of crisp and somewhat fragile leaves. Dampening, then twisting and placing under the tension of a warp reveals a quality to the surface and the tonal variation in any material. I really enjoy this revealing of a different side to what can seem unpromising at first. Working on a series with the same set of materials means I can take a deep dive into that material and properly get to know it. I don’t know if I have enough to make the full set of pieces I’m planning. But I’ve set out and we’ll see how far I can go with two bags of leaves…

As with every different material I work with, there is a period of understanding required, learning how best to manage it. Daffodil leaf isn’t new to me, but even just working with it on a tensioned warp like this requires a particular sensitivity to its handling. There are points of weakness and variations in width. If I tug too hard it will break. Other sections are surprisingly strong. Its papery softness is a pleasure to work with and there are stretches where it feels almost spongy. I find that pulling each warp thread forward to pass it through behind is better than trying to pull it through without manipulating the warp. It packs into a pleasing surface, the linen warp holding it firmly.

I was going to write more about Flaxen, but I’ll save that for next time. I want to describe the different works in the show and that deserves a post to itself. In the meantime, the Flaxen book is available to order online.