[p00rstudent]

I was thinking of having a go at growing a small block of wheat for flour, but i dont really know where to start, has anyone grown wheat on a small scale and had any success, i am guessing netting is going to be in order to keep the sparrows off but any idea what cultivar of wheat i should grow?

or where to get it from?

thankyou for any help you can provide.

paul.

[powerspade]

I too want to grow wheat on my plot but not for making flour instead I want to used it as a green manure the reason being is that is what they do when the lift Jesery Royals spuds

[p00rstudent]

can it not be used for both, as the flour comes from the seed heads ( i think) could you not then did in the rest of whats left (the stalk) as a green manure?

[powerspade]

I think you would need quite a lot of whaet to produce enough flour to make a loaf of bread

[p00rstudent]

i have been using the following link as a guide

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7284011.stm

i recon i should be able to get a loaf of bread out of the patch i have set a side.

[Trillium]

Interesting article, but a lot of sound advice. First of all, if you're feeding an average family, you really do need a piece about 5ft x 66ft to grow enough. Rabbits are a serious problem in the UK, and pigeons could also add to headaches. And wheat has various diseases that would be difficult to home treat unless you plan to spray regularly. Scything down the stalks really is hard work if you're not used to it: equate it to concrete block working all day long. Then there's the chaffing which must be done on wide cloths, a half pail full of grain at a time tossed many times into the air so the wind will blow off the chaff. Impossible to hand pick it out. Then there's the grinding. Unless you're willing to spend large money on a home grinder, you'll need to find a small flour grinding business willing to do yours. Large businesses simply won't bother due to inconvenience. Then there's storage. Flour flies will eat into flour as well as lay eggs by next season unless properly stored.

In Canada, we plant our wheat seed in the late summer, early fall for mid-summer harvest next year. We must also underplant (at the same time) with a grass crop which takes over after wheat harvest to keep the soil healthy, so that's a bit more expense and time.
While it all sounds idyllic, it's bl**dy hard work for very little. As one person commented, it's easier and even healthier to simply plant more potatoes, particularly sweet potatoes which are far healthier.

[upert]

i grew wheat and barley just for a giggle, not enough to make anything except i would've fed the grain to my chickens if i'd had them then. i sowed some cornfield annuals with them too. this was in my garden and for the wildlife.

i bought it from naturescape who have a website.

[p00rstudent]

i was thinking of undersowing with clover or mustard, as for the grinding etc there is apparantly a national trust mill that will mill a sack for a pound apprantly though i still need to look into it properly. i am under no illusion it will be anything other than hardwork, but hardwork has never made me give up on somthing.

i also rember there was an article a while back about peasant bakers in france growing heritage culitvars of wheat , does anyone know anything about it?

[cawdor2001]

PStudent, make sure you choose the right cultivar that has the right characteristics for breadmaking, Group 1 wheat (try the HGCA website).  Normally you would plant around end September early October (no need to protect from birds normally but rabbits will eat it), harvest August the following year.

Cawdor

[gobs]

Some organic farmers offer both seed and milling, mind the mice and fungal diseases. I wouldn't do rye, personally.

[p00rstudent]

whats the best way to deter rabbits? i havent seen any on our site, in fact other than pidgeons the only other pest  i have seen is cats.

[gobs]

whats the best way to deter rabbits? i havent seen any on our site, in fact other than pidgeons the only other pest  i have seen is cats.

Why do you want to deter them then?

[p00rstudent]

just in case they are lurking in the hedgerows some where.

[gobs]

You would not have much untouched.

[p00rstudent]

i was thinking of having a go at growing Hereward possibly, do you think it is a suitable cultivar and does anybody know where i can get a small quantity from?