Growing Wheat For The First Time
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- čas přidán 29. 09. 2018
- It has been really interesting to growing wheat for the first time, with quite different needs while growing and quite labour intensive to harvest, thresh and clean. But is it worth it?
I used to assume that it would not be worth the effort to grow wheat at a small scale, but then I was given a batch of mixed seed as part of a really interesting seed saving project.
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You could look at this as energy per square meter, 1 pound of wheat = 1500 calories.
1 pound of most vegetables is between 50 & 90 calories.
1 pound of wheat = to 23 pounds of cucumbers
Don't look at it per pound. Consider it per acre. Also don't forget to compute the calories in the wheat beer you will make (far better than veggie beer, imo).
@@VACatholic Yes you are correct, on the farm the metric used is tonnage per acre.
@@michaelbalfour3170 Yah exactly! I think @aaron mann's idea of using calories is totally awesome. It just needs to be converted from calories / pound into calories / acre. Then it'd be a sweet little metric for people looking to ensure they're growing a good human garden not just a good "garden". At least, if they're into that kinda thing... :)
@@VACatholic Yes I agree its a good idea and probably really easy to carry out too using the resources on the internet.
Now I haven't slept in a while and realistically even if I was 100% rested I'm not really that good at maths, so either run the numbers for yourself or take my numbers with a grain of salt.
100 grams of wheat is 210(bran)-350(literally everything but bran)kcal, cucumber is 14kcal per 100 gram. 1ha of wheat is roughly 4-5 ton, while the same size plot of cucumber would yield 80-100 ton. Picking a number right in the middle of the yield range would give 9,450,000,000-15,750,000,000kcal per ha of wheat and 12,600,000,000kcal per ha for cucumber. Comparatively that would be -3,150,000,000kcal to +3,150,000,000kcal per ha depending on what you do with your wheat. But those numbers are a bit ridiculous, so lets take it down to kcal per square meter instead. 945,000-1,575,000kcal for wheat per square meter, and 1,260,000kcal per square meter for cucumber or -315,000 to 315,000kal difference per square meter.
Those numbers are still dumb, so lets make an assumption that you aren't making bran and wheat and cucumbers just became super foods which contain all your needs so they are all you need to eat. A square meter of wheat would feed an average adult male for 787,5 days(2 years, 1 month, and 26,5 days) while a square meter of cucumbers would feed the same dude for 630 days(1 year, 8 months, and 21 days).
I would be inclined to think that the average harvest of a ha and a square meter for cucumber don't really scale quite as linearly as wheat would, but maybe that's just me mentally trying to optimize plant patterns. I'd also think when you get down to such small measurements you could start thinking about growing the cucumbers on trellises which would increase the yield per square meter as they would need less ground space which would probably equate to about .5 plants or something. But ultimately all of this is meaningless since we don't use wheat and cucumber the same way so it's a bit of apples and oranges(though that idiom doesn't really work in this context as apples and oranges would make much more sens to compare compared to wheat and cucumbers).
edit: reread what I wrote and the first bit sounded a bit harsher then intended to changed it to hopefully sound a bit nicer. But now bed.
We have a field behind our house where they plant wheat sometimes. I love sitting near it and listening to the wind. It sounds like the ocean.
Very cool indeed. I spent a fair amount of time watching and listening to this batch of wheat!
yeah can be very peaceful, and people that dont understand it will always mock it, no matter what it is, i love to garden and raise my own food, is it easier to go to the store, of course, just no where near as satisfying or relaxing,
Oh my it does it really does
Just let the chickens harvest and thresh it for you. They seem trustworthy.
They would certinally clean up the crop! I'd have lots of eggs, but no bread!
@@CharlesNauck Using it for chicken feed would definitely save a few steps. I could just throw in a bundle of cut plants every few days and t=let them scratch it all out. Depending on what else I am feeding them, it would take a lot of space to make a difference in their feed.
🤣🤣🤣
@@CharlesNauck czcams.com/video/oAqoAgxXdyo/video.html
@@REDGardens given the labor intense method of having to thresh this wheat it does seem logical to give it to the chickens. Calculating the math to say that you would only have 15 extra seeds at the end is bizarre.
I'm finding it hard to work out what you expect to grain from this.
'grain' - nice one
:) Seriously though, 10 loaves from that small an area is actually a good yield!
Big fan of rye bread here especially as you can't get it in the stores that easily, would recommend having a go at that at some point, a 50/50 mix of rye/wheat works well.
Also I'd be very interested in watching the grinding process if you ever did make bread!
10 loaves does seem an ok amount, especially given that the grain is so storable - and high calorie.
I am going to work with my baker friend to bake a few 100% local loaves of bread - which will be interesting, and I am planning to film it all. He has the grinder, beautiful oven and the experience to make great bread.
Make whiskey so your clownass can get some sleep. Lol
Hi there, love the channel, just wanted to point a few things out,that may help you going forward. Your seeding density was more than twice what is considered ideal, approximately 90kg depending on species is closer to the mark in standard agricultural planting density of wheat. It is possible that there was over competition for what is a nitrogen heavy consuming crop
So amazing to see. This is the grain of my region, Swartland here in South Africa. Your methods were pretty creative and effective imo.
Thanks. Great to hear from someone in South Africa!
@@REDGardens well love from india
This is EXACTLY what I've been thinking of doing! I make my own sourdough and have a little mill and grind wheat. Australia is a great wheat growing country too, so following your experience, I will definitely try it. There are some vids on CZcams where people use old food processors for threshing and all kinds of other equipment to process the grain, which could make it less labour intensive. I loved your hen cleaner-uppers too!! GREAT video!!
Cool, glad to hear there are others thinking of small scale grain growing. I have seen a number of different threshing/cleaning options like that as well. One of the ones I tried was a chain on a threaded rod attached to a drill used to bash the grain heads in a bucket - basically the same principle as a food processor. I'm thinking of growing about 4 times as much next year, so will definitely need to figure out how to streamline it all.
RED Gardens I reckon I'd be going with just one variety though, for the reason you showed regarding the stem lengths. Can't wait to see your wheat crop next year Bruce. (Also, it's very difficult to make bread entirely with your own milled grain. You need to add in some refined bakers flour or the bread is just too heavy and wont rise). This was a terrific vid!
I am going to work with my baker friend who is well skilled at making 100% wholemeal flour, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. The big issue is if there is high enough protein content to produce a light(ish) loaf.
@@REDGardens
VERY GOOD EXPLAIN
Very excellent growing design
This video answered all my questions I had about growing wheat. Thank you. Its channels like this that we need more of
I appreciate you man!!!
It’s super awesome how you blaze trails for other DIYers - super impressive and impeccably beneficial. 🙏🏼
As a child, my grandfather would bind wheat into sheaves with a horse drawn binder, they where then set up on groups of 10 to 12 leaving space so air could dry the grain, a sheave was placed over the top in such a way as to place the straw or butts facing the prevailing wind. To see if the wheat was ready to thrash, a few heads where rubbed between the hands, if the chaff came off easily and the grain was firm it was further tested by eating it and if crunchy but would form like a gum without to much effort it was ready. Sometimes we would use a flail, two straight branches one 4 feet long and the other 3 feet long tied together with a leather cord and then beat the stocks on a tarp. After the grain had fallen off the straw was raked off and then it was tossed into the air, grain falling to the tarp and chaff blowing away. Hope you liked growing wheat, non gmo is great to make whole wheat and multi grain sour dough or plain bread. Which can be cooked in a dutch oven over a fire.
I remember being something very similar while visiting one of those historical villages with everyone doing all the old tasks. It is such a wonderful process, all the stages with specific purposes, techniques and equipment.
I'm looking forward to making some sourdough bread from this!
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Very interesting and informative, as a person who was looking to understand more about how wheat is grown. Maybe it's something I could try to grow someday.
🙂
Thanks for the video. When I did the search for growing wheat all the videos showed the "big scale" process. Your video it was just what I was looking for.
I need so many more videos like this. I very much enjoy the intellectual dialogue in your videos. As an avid gardener it's very refreshing to stumble upon a channel like yours.
Thanks. Glad you found my channel.
lovely video, thanks for your time and effort
I am glad you did this. I often wondered about it myself.
Thank you for sharing the entire process. I knew this took time, patience, and a lot of hard work. Thank you so much.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome information! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this video! You are very eloquent and easy to listen to and extremely helpful!
Wow! Thanks for putting the time in this video, I'm intrigued
My pleasure!
I love your commentary you are awesome thanks bro.
Subscribed!!!!!!
You never fail to inform and entertain, I always seem to like the video before its even halfway. I appreciate you
:)
This was an excellent video with many layers of info and ponderings
Im really glad you decided to experiment and more importantly you shared your finds and the figures you came up with give a great framework to start with . being the first video ive seen i appreciate the way you included your sq ft and figures , great overall video i picked up a lot . thank you
😀
Your video was very well spoken and informative! Thank you so much.
Glad you appreciate my videos.
Thank you very much.
Thank you 😊
Well done and thanks for sharing your hard work.
👍
Sharing information and thank you
Inspired us to grow red winter wheat this year, and here in southern california it has been the perfect storm of a year to grow wheat. Cool, wet winter, and a dry but temperate past couple months to let the wheat fill out - planted it in october and will harvest tomorrow. The berries we ended up growing are about 2.5x the size of the berries we planted, and we’ll be harvesting tomorrow to get a final yield on all we grew. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you for sharing us how you grew wheat! you are truly awesome and informative ^^
Superb video.
Love the way you speak brother thanks for the detailed information👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
great video. I have been growing grains all my life and small plot varieties for almost twenty years.
this is what i needed thanks
I love this channel so much.
Ah, thanks!
Wheat is also a great cover crop, its a good crop to grow when starting a bed for a new plant.
Working on my field for winter wheat this year in North Alabama, USA. I hope to be finished tomorrow so I can get the seed in the ground! Thanks for the video!
I was hoping to get a patch of ground ready for a planting of winter wheat, but haven't had the time yet.
I did this a few years ago. I found it easier to just cut off and reserve the heads in a pair of old pillow cases, and just rolled my car back n forth a few times to loosen and separate all the hulls . . . then I just poured the result in front of a strong fan and into a pail, with the chaff getting blown away.
Sounds like an effective option.
Even though the plot was tiny (2' x 8'), and only yeilded about a pint or so of finished wheatberries, experiencing the whole process for the 1st time, from sprouted seed to baked goods, was deeply satisfying.
Oh, and I forgot to explain that the pillowcase of wheat heads was placed on my driveway with the bag spread evenly flat (not mounded) before rolling my car back n forth several times across it. It was just the right amount of force to crack open all the hulls without damaging the wheatberries themselves. I think I used Palouse Hard Spring White Wheat.
Thanks for this, as usual a very thoughtful analysis. I have wanted to do our own wheat for a while but we just do not have the space. The upside to being able to grow you own wheat is avoiding all the pesticide and fertilizer exposure that come with store bought grain products.
That is definitely an upside!
I love baking bread, and the idea of planting an intermixed variety and letting the local climate select for the most suitable is very appealing. I've got more land than I can use for my vegetable garden, and I have let large portions of it turn to meadow. I think you may have inspired me to try wheat for next season. Plus, I don't feel compelled to build raised beds for grains!
I think wheat and other grains are a really suitable option for those larger areas of ground that we don't know what to do with.
Glad to hear you have been inspired to try out growing wheat!
Thank you for this very informative video.
Incredible, thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
Thank you for making this video. Diolch.
Thanks
Well done 👏
Love the closing footage
🙂
Thank you
:)
Thank you for posting. I will plant about an acre+. I can let livestock graze on it through winter, come spring it can head out and be harvested and I will plant my garden over same space for summer. My chickens love fermented wheat so I will just let seeds hull and all ferment for them.
Great video. Answered all my questions
Excellent!
Thank you 🍻
No problem 👍
That would be so cool to do !
This is great.
I am also very interested in growing grain once I have the land to do so on.
Thank you.
Hope you get a chance - it is such an interesting process and beautiful crop.
Very informative and numbers are very useful. thank you.
👍
Six inches from my left elbow is a book called 'Growing Wheat on a Small Scale'. There's a long story attached to this book.
Ps
For two autumns recently, I broadcast sowed a Winter Green Manure mix of Grazing Rye and Winter Tares.
Your lovely video encourages me to let that grow to maturity some day.
Seldom do I watch a single video from a new channel and think “yes, all of this, yes!”
Your demeanour, your approach and content was thoroughly enjoyable and as a result I’ve subscribed because I really do want to see what else you’ve got in store :)
Thank you! And I’m sure the next videos I watch will be just as informative and enjoyable!
Wow, glad you liked it. Hope you enjoy my other videos as much!
Great content, we haven't bought a loaf coming up to 3 yrs now I'd say, slicing is the hardest part :) malted fruit bread, yum yum, look forward to bakery/processing video, the idea of growing my own wheat has been on my mind obviously, well done, Thumbs up!
Thanks. Planning to do a video about baking a few loaves with my baker friend.
Checking every day for a new video
Ah, sorry for the delay! Just uploaded another video. So cool to know people are anticipating new videos on this channel! Thanks!
Captivating.
Very nice!
really interesting video!
:)
Very nice and informative
Thank you.
Hi you encouraged me to create my green house specifically for wheat growing
👍
Good job thank you
Thank you for this video, this is the exact information I was looking for yield vs sqm and yield vs seed and as a bonus sqm = (x) loaves.
Glad it was helpful!
Very interesting
Very interesting video. There is very little information about small scale wheat growing and processing, due to fact that (as you mention) vegetables are easier with less processing. But small scale wheat growing is something I want to try in rotation with poultry as soon as I have the space available. Great to have the details and information on yield you have given here. Thank you!
Thanks. Grains are so interesting - so much to learn and explore about growing them on a small scale.
Excellent and good Survival Video.
Thank you good to see how you separated seed from straw
:)
Congratulations... Your awesome . I am farmer too... Looking forward to grow wheat
Thanks heaps for sharing. Just the info l need.
Excellent!
Composting wheat with bread. How cannibalistic! :D
Yeah, a bit strange, but seems to work!
@LagiNaLangAko23 Lol
trees eat fermemted leaves too
@@sapprine4534 True!
You can boil the grains without turning them in to flour and bake the bread.
Something akin to boiled rice will show up. An esible, but bland without salt food.
well done
thanks
Cool guy, good job
Thanks for making this video. I was thinking for a while if I can grow some small amounts of wheat, enough to bake a few loaves of bread. I had grown a few wheat plants in the past and I found them really beautiful and pleasant.
You should really try to grow a small patch - it is wonderful to have it in the garden!
Thanks for posting this video. I have tested growing Khorasan Wheat a few times. The plants get very tall. If i get some time this year I will grow it again and rotate it with rice and try out a Masanou Fukuoka Style of No dig growing with a clover. I would love to get some bread out of my home grown wheat. Please get us posted about your next wheat sowing project. Thanks!!
It would be really colt try out rice with Fukuoka Style growing, but I'm afraid we don't have the climate here. Hoe it goes really well for you.
Great video. I see the processing of our grain as my 'down time'!
As I'm watching this I'm picking out the weed seeds on a white dish..a bit like panning for gold. You get proficient after a while and it becomes quiet therapeutic.
Tip? - when winnowing, I use a larger container on the floor to catch the grains from a greater height and then let the chickens into the area later.
With all the grain crop losses going on in the world at present I think your video, and encouraging other to grow grains, is more pertinent than ever.🐿️"
i also find it all very therapeutic. Also repetitive tasks like that are great to do with a couple friends around a table, while chatting and having tea or a few beer!
PERFECT video for what I was needing answered!! I have not grown wheat .. yet? But I was looking for a reasonable answer to how much yield is possible for 1 lb planted!!
It could be a lot of work but growing your own wheat and make the flour and bake the bread gives you such happiness that is all worth the work and time.
My wife gets itchy bumps on her neck then I know it's a good time to plant wheat. It will be a good crop for sure that year.
I'm in Cumbria, and have notice the price of bread jumping up substantially. With the war in Eastern Europe and climate challenges in the US and Canada, wheat's potentially going to be harder to source. I was with friends last night who grow most of their food as I do, and we reckoned it's time to look at growing our own bread. Thankyou for your insights and starting our journey into this.
I was thinking of growing some more next year, for similar reasons.
You're the guy I kept from getting beat up in high school ...
Such a great video, though! Thanks for breaking down your yield per area!
haha
I enjoy this content.
:)
This is true art and schools should be teaching this
The beauty of wheat is so pleasant! I also really love colorful corn, any corn really, and sweet sorghum...I had 12-14 foot stalks this year they were super sweet to chew. I grew corn, wheat, and sorghum while I was visiting Ireland, the sorghum took off during our drought back home. The corn did pretty well, but the wheat was overtaken this year by weeds. The best heritage wheat in Maine is Red Fife, so I hear. Very beautiful reddish golden seeds. I would add you get the value add of well-fed chickens and meat & eggs from the spilled wheat...that's a real win!
It is a lovely crop to grow, and I would really like to grow a lot more of the other grains. Such interesting crops.
I like to grow wheat in my garden as an ornamental plant. I cut them at the end of the year and use them in fall displays :)
Good idea, they are such beautiful plants.
Thank you for breaking that down. What i took away is that i need roughly 1000sqft of wheat planted to make a few sandwiches each week all year!
Glad you found it helpful.
Like your video, sort of DIY experiment on wheat farming. I'm going to experiment this in my farm.
This a wonderful new project.
Wheat has no long hairs,
Please grow a big field of grains this season
Rolling the stalks on wire rack was brilliant. I'll be giving that a try, thanks.
It works, though not necessarily the easiest method. I suspect the drill with chains in a bucket method that I have seen others use is a better option.
@@REDGardens With being in Ireland. It should be one of the easiest of tasks. To obtain an old washing mangle. Feed the straw into the rollers as you turn the handle. The wheat grains will drop out automatically as the straw and rollers gets nearer to the seed heads. Then winnow it. How can you tell my Grandmother on my Mother's side was Irish.and from County Cork ? There's not a problem you can't solve. If you just think about it first. As for doing the washing. The wife won't miss the mangle for five minutes. If you're quick. I've been thinking of growing my own for the last two years. So maybe next year I'll eventually get around to it.
@@REDGardens Drill holes in the bottom of your bucket first. For the wheat to drop through. Less winnowing later.
very interesting. just amazing how yield rates varies from country to country. Here in Australia, we'd be VERY lucky to get 3t/ha on a commercial farm. Usually it ranges from 1.5-2t/ha. Couldn't even fathom getting up to 8t/ha like they do on those varieties in Ireland
It is amazing how yields vary. Here in Ireland we don't have a lot of land, but have high yields. In Australia, you have lots of land, but not as high of yield, so I guess that is an ok balance. I heard somewhere that Ireland has among the highest grain yields in the world, but the wheat is so soft it isn't valued for making bread. Most of it goes to animal feed apparently.
Great video and a cool experiment! An important take-away is that growing grains, even when not producing as well as large scale commercial agriculture, requires much less space than most people think. Ask most people and they assume you need acres and acres to grow a few pounds.
Thanks. It is interesting how much you can get. And I extrapolated to figure out how much space I would need to grow enough grain for 2 loaves of bread a week for the full year, and it seems reasonable and manageable.
I feed my chicken scratch grain and some fell in the soil around the pin and it grew up. Just by that little bit I was able to harvest enough wheat seeds to plant half an acre plot for next year.
Very good video! I would like to grow wheat but I need a cup of flour every day. I don't want to be a full-time wheat farmer. I am in Thailand and ground wheat is very inexpensive. After seeing the excellent video of the wheat swaying in the wind I am thinking about growing some just to look at like a flower. I subscribed. Keep up the good work. I like how serious and straight forward it is. I am not meeting my social needs with CZcams. I just want information. This kind of video is what I like.
I recently found out about a Variety called. Sonora Wheat. Dates back to 1690 or so.
Planted a row and sowed very heavy. As it started to grow I experimented with it. Ended up cutting it way back 3 times. Still coming up with very decent heads and should be good harvest. Later found out Google says can be grazed off at least twice and still produce well. Does tolerate drought type conditions.
Easy to harvest also.
I am So Pleased So far. Live in the Arizona Desert. About a month ago I planted couple more rows.
Hal Steward I have heat of that variety, I think a local grower around here grows or. Souls a like an interesting variety.
Planting whole loaves is smart. That will save on a lot of processing and baking
Wheat and rye grow like weeds where I live now at self sustaining it's pretty fun to go pick some and make bread very fun!!
Sounds great!
@@REDGardens ye it's pretty fun but boy it sucks threshing
Woow very nice.... Watchingbhere at Saudi from Philippines..
🙂
Hi i just found this video its really good i also want to say that today my teacher gave us seeds we picked and wheat Was the most worth and i got wheat without knowing so i planted it today in soil with 100ml water
That's great!
@@REDGardens thank you i have one question i live in germany and its soon Winter is it bad if i give the wheat grain 100ml?
Thinking about doing this once I get a small farmhouse. I already make my own dough from store bought flour, would be nice to take it a step farther.
It is really great to be able to experience the entire process, even if it is only for a small part of what you use.
Nice information.
I am trying to cultivate wheet in hot temperature tamilnadu in india.
Thank you very much.
:)