Growing cotton in Michigan

About 9 months ago I got an opportunity to buy a used Louet spinning wheel which I jumped at the chance to purchase. Spinning wheels are one of those things that have fascinated me since I was a small child. Through the Middle of the Mitten group I have also met wonderful ladies through whom I can purchase wool, alpaca and angora roving for spinning but even with these sources I wanted to have my own source of spinning material. I thought about rabbits or a goat but my husband wasn't keen on the idea and I admit I don't really have time to take care of animals. So I found a used copy of the book 'A Weaver's Garden' by Rita Buchanan which tells how to grow many plants for fiber. Flax and hemp are mentioned as being very easy to grow in Northern climates but the preparation of the plant for spinning was somewhat involved, not to mention growing hemp (or marijuana) is illegal and I don't think they would allow my wheel or needles inside the cell with me.

So my next choice was cotton. But I live in Michigan, definitely not cotton growing country but
nothing ventured, nothing gained so off I went to investigate using my trust worthy tool, Google. I found an article by Nev Sweeney describing small scale cotton growing. He described how he had broken several rules of cotton growing but was still successful in his endeavor. With Nev in my corner I found a source for cotton seeds at www.earthlyseed.com (Google again), purchased some peat pots and potting soil and away I went.

Placed the planted seeds on the windowsill about mid March.
It took 2 - 3 weeks for the first little guys to poke their heads out.

At about 10 weeks after planting, I moved the plants from the windowsill to the screened in back porch to prepare them for the fluctuations in Michigan's weather and at 11 weeks I moved them to the selected location in the yard.



Like a hen with her chicks I have been checking them at least daily making sure that they are doing ok and nothing is disturbing their growth. If all goes well I will have 3 kinds of cotton to play with by September, a standard white variety - Upland, a green cotton and Nankeen - a red cotton. Gotta go check on my babies now.