I keep thinking about my challenge of a years self-sufficiency and how I need to start growing more staples. I'll need carbs and dried goods to see me through lean times and to provide enough fuel for what I do day to day.
The main one is bread. I need lots of bread, and for that I'll need flour, and for that I need to grow wheat (and possibly rye, but I'm not there yet). A good wheat that will make a good loaf.
After my day learning about adaptive agriculture, I knew I wanted a grain that had a large genetic diversity, and if it could be one that is good in wet conditions so much the better. I also got added to a wahtsapp group called "west midlands grain network", i asked on there some advice and they suggested I look for Hen Gymro, an old Welsh grain.
I did some internet research and found a farmer that grows it, sent him and email and a few days later had a great chat with him, in exchange for one of my flour scoops he sent me some wheat and some flour to have a go with. It was lovely to speak to someone so passionate about what he does.
He said the wheat should be perfect, grows fast to out compete the weeds (essential in my plot), deals with cold and damp well, but does grow tall so can sometimes lodge (fall over).
I'm going to try and do what I did a few years ago where I timed half an hour a day in the garden for months and months over winter, in the hope I can have an easier go of it in spring with lots of beds ready to go.
Anyone else planting grains on a small scale?
Not on a small scale but my parents would always raise a number of acres of winter wheat. I was extremely spoiled because when we needed wheat for bread, I would just go out and pull some from the grain bin, already shucked by the combine and dried and run it through our grinder.
ReplyDeleteI've always planted the garden to wheat as a cover crop over the winter by broadcasting it thick and then tilling. Then I started using an Earthway garden seeder (using the okra/beet plate?) to plant rows of wheat in the garden as my cover crop because I liked the way it looked.
ReplyDeleteBut a few years ago, I started planting a hard red winter wheat variety from the 1940's that was developed here in Oklahoma called Triumph. I started with a 5 gm. sample that I planted in a row the first year, then the seed from that planting was planted into a bed, and now I've planted that seed into a 200 square foot plot. Hopefully, I'll be able to harvest enough from this year's planting to possibly plant something like a half acre at the farm.
I also have a 200 square foot plot planted to a more modern white winter wheat variety that I interested in seeing how it does on a small scale.
Kev, I think you will enjoy growing wheat. Growing grains to me is one of the satisfying things I have done in gardening.
ReplyDeleteIf you are looking for a reference, Gene Logsdon's Small Scale Grain Raising is a great one.
Hi Kev check out Rob Penn, he grew enough Hen Gymro on an acre to make bread for a year
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