Natural fiber opportunities!!!
Natural fibers and Solar winds! I was hiking at the john Heinz National Wildlife Refuge a few weeks ago: and something clicked in my head!
I have a lot of friends who are fiber fanatics, and I sometimes make them equipment to work with...
2 under utilised fibers are Stinging Nettles and Goldenrod.
of the two the stinging Nettles are the softest/nicest. but they don't grow well in open fields.
so most farmers/farming has ignored them...
they grow in great profusion under the trees at my local wildlife refuge!
If you know of anyone putting up a solar farm, you might try to get them to allow you to cultivate Nettles under the solar panels!!
the shade to sun ratio should be close to the woods edges where I find them.you might even get a better per acre yeild of fiber than cotton.
AND you can boil up and eat the leaves.
and have any of you considered using golden rod? it's a little more like flax.
Henry Ford sponsored a great deal of research into using Goldenrod for fiber and for latex production. his research was shut down after the discovery/invention of Polyurethane rubbers during WWII.
Goldenrod grows prolifically in abandoned fields in NY state... just saying maybe there is a great opportunity there.
be well
Karl
It has 3 "X"s. At 1' and 4'. I use it for cutting up Bowl blanks for turning or carving.