{"id":1879,"date":"2019-09-28T23:48:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T23:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2019-10-07T02:21:45","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T02:21:45","slug":"wheat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/28\/wheat-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Triticum<\/em> <\/em>aestivum<\/em> <\/em>syn T.<\/em> <\/em>vulgare<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong>: Wheat is\nthought to have originated in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and\nprovided such a valuable source of nutrition that it quickly became an\nimportant crop and eventually revolutionized the way people lived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The large scale cultivation of wheat was\nresponsible for the start of civilization in that area. This happened because\nit provided such a surplus of food that some people could cease to be farmers\nand could go and build cities (the word civilized means living in cities). This\neventually led to the creation of different classes of people: peasants,\nslaves, laborers, soldiers, craftsmen, traders, priests, generals, aristocrats\nand kings. In turn this led to centralized government, organized religion,\ntaxes, tithes and the creation of professional armies and – err, maybe it\nwasn\u2019t such a great idea after all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cultivation of wheat was so successful that it spread to\nalmost every area that was suitable for growing it (it was being grown as far\naway as England 5000 years ago). Wheat is a staple food for most of the people\nlikely to read this book and is second only to rice in importance as a human\nfood crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutritional content<\/strong>: Wheat seed\nis rich in protein, as well as complex carbohydrates and fiber. It also\ncontains iron, manganese, selenium, zinc, niacin, riboflavin and thiamin. It is\nalso a fantastic energy source, containing about 1500 calories per pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About Wheat<\/strong> \u00a0
Germination time: 2 – 21 days
Germination temp 55 – 75\u00b0F
Growing temp: 55 (70 \u2013 75) 85\u00b0F
Days to maturity: 110 – 170
Seed viability: 5 years
Yield: 1 lb in 10 sq ft \u00a0 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

Crop use<\/strong>: Most people don\u2019t even consider growing wheat as a garden crop and some of those that do reject the idea. Generally the reason for this is not that it\u2019s hard to grow, but rather that big Midwestern wheat growers are so efficient and have such an ideal climate that somehow we can\u2019t \u201ccompete\u201d with them. In fact home wheat growing can be quite practical and certainly\nisn\u2019t a competition. I\u2019m not suggesting that you grow wheat instead of more\nconventional crops, but if you are already growing everything else you need and\nare looking for a new challenge (and if you have the space) then it could be an\ninteresting and rewarding project. If you eat a lot of bread it would certainly\nbe an important step towards food self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important bonus crop when growing wheat is the considerable\namount of straw. This can be invaluable for building up the fertility of the\nsoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease of growing<\/strong>: Wheat is a relatively easy crop to\ngrow, but it requires a fair bit of processing to transform it into something\nedible. You need to be a little creative to use the wheat you grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest problem with growing wheat\nis that it needs quite a lot of space to produce a worthwhile amount. This\nisn\u2019t a crop for the square foot garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate<\/strong>: Wheat\nprefers a fairly cool, moist climate for growth, but warm, dry weather is best\nfor ripening the grain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

pH 5.5 (6.5) 7.0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To grow good wheat you need a good soil.\nIt should be well-drained, fertile and moisture retentive. The type of soil\ndoesn\u2019t matter too much, so long as it contains plenty of nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bed preparation<\/strong>: Wheat has deep penetrating roots, so a\nthoroughly double dug bed is ideal for maximum yields. If you would rather have\nslightly lower yield and a lot less work you can just loosen the soil with a\nfork (it all depends upon how much effort you are prepared to make). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While cultivating the soil you should\nadd a 2\u02dd layer of compost or aged manure, as well as greensand or wood ashes\n(for potassium) and colloidal phosphate for phosphorus). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding seed<\/strong>: Wheat seed isn\u2019t found in your typical garden center vegetable\nseed display, so you may have to search to find a suitable type for planting.\nYou can buy named varieties in small quantities from some mail order seed\ncompanies. If you live in a rural area you may be able to get wheat seed from a\nfarm supply store (though it may be treated with fungicide). If all else fails\nyou can simply plant winter wheat berries from a food store. The problem with\nthis is that you won\u2019t know what variety it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where<\/strong>: Wheat needs good soil and full sun for maximum productivity and\nof course enough space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest problem with growing wheat is the space it requires.\nIts been estimated that it takes 1000 sq ft to grow a bushel (60 lb) of wheat,\nso a family of 4 might need 4000 sq ft (an area 50 ft x 80 ft). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How practical this is will depend upon where you live. In urban\nareas few people have a spare thousand square feet of unused sunny space,\nthough you might be able to plant a 100 sq ft wide growing bed and harvest up\nto 10 pounds of grain (there is probably no point growing much less than this,\nexcept perhaps as an experimental or seed crop). In many suburban and rural\nareas lawns often cover thousands of square feet and in such places growing\nwheat can be relatively practical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crop\nrotation<\/strong>: You should rotate your wheat crop\nannually (easier said than done if you need 4000 sq ft though), or only grow it\nonce every three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When<\/strong>: Wheat prefers cool weather and in warmer\nareas it is most often planted in fall, to mature in early summer the following\nyear. In colder areas you have to plant in spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of wheat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter wheat<\/strong>: This is the hardiest type. It is fall sown (September – October)\nin areas with fairly mild winters, where the temperature doesn\u2019t go much below\n20\u00b0F. It needs to be well established with a good root system by the time cold\nweather arrives. The plants go dormant over the winter, but start growing again\nas soon as spring arrives and mature in early summer. The crop is out of the\nground early enough that another crop can follow it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good timing is important with winter wheat, because you don\u2019t want\nthe plants to be too advanced when cold weather arrives. If they have grown too\nbig they may lodge (fall over) the following spring and won\u2019t yield well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter wheat needs 4 – 6 weeks of cold temperatures (32 – 45\u00b0F) to\nvernalize it before it will flower and produce seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring wheat<\/strong>: This is generally grown where winters are too severe for winter\nwheat. It is planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked and\nmatures in mid to late summer. It isn\u2019t as hardy or productive as winter wheat.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring wheat doesn\u2019t need to be vernalized before it can flower,\nit merely needs to get big enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In very mild winter areas spring wheat is sometimes planted in\nfall, so it can mature in early summer before the weather gets too hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard and\nsoft<\/strong>: Both winter and spring wheat come in hard\nand soft types. Hard wheat is high in gluten and is preferred for baking bread.\nSoft wheat is lower in gluten and higher in starch and is commonly used for\nmaking pastry and crackers (though it can make good bread too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising transplants<\/strong>: Some people actually grow wheat from transplants. Apparently it\ncan increase yields by up to 50%, but it seems like a lot of work. I would only\ntransplant if I had a small number of valuable seeds I wanted to multiply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can start the seed indoors in flats, about 6 weeks before the\nlast frost. When the plants are about 2\u02dd high they are transplanted outside.\nThis should be about a month before the last frost date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct sowing<\/strong>: This is the usual (more rational) way to plant wheat and is\npretty easy (just like planting a green manure crop). Broadcasting the seed\nonto the prepared seedbed is the traditional and most picturesque method, but\nit is quite wasteful of seed unless you are good at it and can do it lightly.\nYou certainly don\u2019t want to have to thin your wheat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most efficient way to plant is in rows with a seed drill, set\nto plant the seed to a depth of 1\u00bd – 3\u02dd (2\u02dd typically). Cover with a couple of\ninches of straw mulch after planting to suppress weeds and reduce the need for watering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing<\/strong>: Wheat doesn\u2019t like to be crowded and can be planted a lot\nfurther apart than you might imagine. It was once said that you should be able\nto walk across a wheat field and only stand on one plant with each step. The\nreason that wider spacing works is because the plants tiller freely, which\nmeans they send out multiple stems. A spacing of 4 – 5\u02dd is good when growing in\nwide beds (each plant will tiller, or send up multiple stems). <\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nResearchers found that when wheat was sown in rows spaced 14\u02dd apart, they only\nyielded 6% less than rows spaced 7\u02dd apart (yet only required half as much seed\nfor planting). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conventional\nfarmers aim for around 25 plants per square foot, which works out to be 5 – 6\nsq inches per seed, or about 2 \u00bd\u02dd apart. They crowd their plants somewhat\nbecause it tends to increase uniformity of size and maturation time, which is\ngood for machine harvesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water<\/strong>: Generally wheat doesn\u2019t require a lot of water, so it is only\nwatered in very dry conditions. Too much water can cause lodging and disease\nproblems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter wheat will get most of its water from winter rains and will\nbe almost done by the time the soil dries out in summer. Such a crop may not\nneed watering at all, which can be a big deal in drier areas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring wheat is more drought tolerant, but paradoxically is more\nlikely to need watering because it is growing in the warmest and driest part of\nthe year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeds<\/strong>: Because of the relatively wide spacing and the sparseness of\nfoliage on young plants, weeds were once a big problem for wheat farmers. Some\nweeds became synonymous with wheat fields (once known as corn), including corn\nspurrey, corn cockle, corn poppy and cornflower. Once the plants reach a\ncertain size they are able to take care of themselves and crowd out weeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a lot easier to keep a small area of the young plants weeded\nif  you plant them in beds with paths\nbetween them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One problem is differentiating grassy weeds from your similar\nlooking crop plants. This is one good reason to sow in rows, rather than broadcasting.\nThen if a plant isn\u2019t growing in a row then you can assume it\u2019s a weed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lodging<\/strong>: Lodging is another name for falling over and can be a problem\nwhen winter wheat is sown too early. If the over-wintering plants get taller\nthan 6\u02dd you should cut them back a little (it won\u2019t hurt them). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests<\/strong>: One advantage of small scale growing is that your plants are\nunlikely to be seriously bothered by pests or disease.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds and small mammals can be pests of wheat at both ends of the\ngrowing cycle. They will eat the grain and young plants when it is sown and\nthey may eat the grain when it is ripening. Slugs and snails may eat young\nseedlings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hessian fly is a serious problem for wheat farmers in the east.\nYou can avoid it by planting late (mid September to mid October). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sawflies and chinch bug can also be problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disease<\/strong>: These include rust, bunt and mosaic virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvesting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When<\/strong>: Wheat is ready to harvest when the heads start to droop somewhat\nand the plants are turning yellow brown, but still have some green coloration.\nThe seed should <\/p>\n\n\n\n

be quite hard and you should barely be able to dent it with your\nfingernail or teeth (it will harden even further as it dries out). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How<\/strong>: For centuries the wheat harvest was a major annual event for\ncountry people. It determined whether they lived well for the next year, or\nfaced the prospect of hunger and possible starvation. No wonder the annual\nharvest festival was a time to\ngive thanks for a good harvest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wheat should be harvested later in the day,\nafter the dew has dried out. If you are working on a small scale, you can cut\nthe seed heads with shears and then dry and thresh them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a bigger scale the whole plants can be cut with a sickle\n(remove any weeds as you harvest), propped upright and tied into a shock (or\nstook) to dry (a shock  is a cluster of\nsheaves set upright and tied together with wheat stems). After the shocks had thoroughly\ndried, they were made into a stack and left until threshing time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Threshing is the process of freeing the seeds from the hulls and\nthe rest of the plant and was traditionally done with a flail (or failing that\na piece of rubber hose will work). The seed heads are placed on a flat sheet\nand pounded energetically to loosen the grain from the husk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threshed seed is then winnowed to remove\nthe chaff. This is done by tossing it into the air on a windy day (an electric\nfan is more reliable), so the light chaff was caught by the wind and blown\naway. The heavier seeds fall straight back down. A small quantity can be tossed\nin a flat basket to winnow. This was often done a small quantity at a time as\nneeded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cleaned seed can be used immediately or dried further for\nstorage. Drying is a critical step because if the grains aren\u2019t fully dry (less\nthan 13% moisture) they will spoil in storage. A fully dry wheat kernel is hard\nand will shatter rather than dent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dry seed should be stored in an insect and vermin proof\ncontainer such as a metal bin, in the usual cool dark place (40 – 60\u00b0F at less\nthan 40% humidity). If moisture, heat or rodents don\u2019t get at the grain, it\nshould remain edible for years (up to 10). Store your wheat as grain, not flour\nwhich is much more perishable (though you can store flour in the freezer).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed saving<\/strong>: Wheat is usually self-pollinated so it\u2019s easy to save the seed\n(you will be collecting it anyway). It isn\u2019t likely there will be many\ndifferent wheat varieties growing around you, unless you live near a farm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To improve your seed gather it from the healthiest and best plants\nin your planting. If you want to maximise genetic variability you could just\ntake a portion of all of the wheat you just grew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your seed wheat should probably be stored separately from the bulk\nof the crop. It must be kept under optimum conditions if it is to remain viable\nfor a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unusual growing ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clover living mulch<\/strong>: Winter wheat can be under planted with a hardy annual clover,\nwhich covers the bed for the winter, suppresses weeds and supplies nitrogen.\nThis improves the soil while growing a crop at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover\ncrop<\/strong>: Winter wheat can provide the soil with many of the same benefits\nas a winter cover crop (and produce grain as a bonus).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green manure<\/strong>: Wheat has also been grown as a winter cover crop or green\nmanure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organic matter source<\/strong>: After you have harvested the grain crop, the straw is a valuable\nsource of organic matter for enriching the soil (or for use as mulch). This is\nactually a significant bonus crop and makes wheat growing a more practical proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There aren\u2019t many varieties available in small quantities for the\nhome gardener. Usually you just get winter wheat or spring wheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter Wheat<\/strong>: These tend to be higher yielding than spring wheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring Wheat<\/strong>: This is usually only grown if it\u2019s not possible to grow the\nwinter types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitchen use<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wheat is most often ground into flour for making breads, cakes,\npastry, tortillas and pasta. It can also be cooked for making cereals and even\nbe popped like popcorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sprouted grain \u201cbread\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0

Sprout 3 cups of wheat grains until they have shoots about \u215bth<\/sup> inch long. This takes from 12 hours to 2 days, depending upon how warm it is.
When the wheat is ready you put it in a food processor and process until
it turns into a thick, sticky paste.

There are two options for \u201cbaking\u201d. One is to spread it out into a thin \u00bc\u02dd layer on a greased baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes at 325 F. The
alternative no-bake method is to spread it out into a thicker 1 \u00bd\u02dd layer
and \u201cbake\u201d it in the sun ideally as 80 F) for 12 hours. \u00a0 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Triticum aestivum syn T. vulgare Introduction: Wheat is thought to have originated in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and provided such a valuable source of nutrition that it … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seed-veg","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/wheat.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1880,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions\/1880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}