Can I keep wheat at home? How to grow wheat at home the correct way to grow wheat at home

You want to eat healthily and add more grains to your diet. What better way than to grow wheat in your garden at home? Wait, really? Can I keep wheat at home? Of course, you don't need tractors, grain drills, alliances or even the acreage that full-size wheat farmers need. The following wheat planting information will help you understand how to grow wheat in your home garden and take care of wheat grains in your backyard.

Can I keep wheat at home?

It is very possible to grow your own wheat. Given the professional equipment and large farms used by commercial wheat farmers, this seems like a daunting task, but the truth is that growing your own wheat has some fallacies that have even become the most stubborn gardeners in the idea.

First of all, most of us think you need acres and acres to produce a little flour. That's not true. The average backyard, 1000 square feet, is enough to grow a bushel of wheat. What is the equivalent of a bushel? About 60 pounds of grain in a bushel is enough to bake 90 bread! Because you may not need 90 slices of bread, just one or two rows of wheat will be enough to grow wheat in your garden.

Second, you may think you need special equipment, but wheat and other grains are traditionally harvested with a sickle, which is a low-tech, low-cost tool. You can also use pruning shears or green hedge machines to harvest wheat. Threshing or removing grain from a seed simply means that you hit it with a stick, and you can use a household fan to select or remove the husk. To grind grain into flour, all you need is a good blender.

How to grow wheat in a family garden

Winter or spring wheat varieties are selected according to the planting season. Hard red wheat varieties are the most commonly used for baking, with warm and cool seasons.

Winter wheat is planted in autumn and lasts until early winter, and then goes into dormancy. Warm temperatures in spring stimulate new growth, and seed heads form in about two months.

Spring wheat is planted in spring and matures from mid-summer to summer. It can be drier than winter wheat, but it doesn't produce high temperatures.

Once you have chosen the kinds of wheat you want to grow, the rest is quite simple. Wheat likes neutral soil with a pH value of about 6.4. First, in sunny areas of the garden until the soil is 6 inches deep. If you don't have enough soil, you can modify a few inches of compost when you need it.

Next, play the seeds with a hand or crank seeder. Rake the soil so that the seeds enter the top 2 inches of soil. To help moisturize and control weeds, spread a 2-to 4-inch loose straw mulch on top of the wheat field.

Care about wheat grains in the backyard

Keep the area moist to promote germination. Planting in autumn is unlikely to require extra water, but growing in spring will require an inch of water a week. Water whenever the soil at the top is dry. Warm-season wheat may mature in as little as 30 days, while winter crops may be ready for harvest for up to nine months.

Once the grain changes from green to brown, cut the stem just above the ground. Tie the cut stems with the string and let them dry in a dry place for about two weeks.

After the grain has dried, spread the tarp or sheet on the floor and beat the straw with the wooden tool of your choice. The goal is to release grain from the seed head, which is called threshing.

Collect threshed grain and put it in a bowl or bucket. Point to the fan (medium speed) so that it blows the husk (the paper cover around the confetti) out of the grain. The husk is light, so it should be easy to fly out of the grain. Store the grain in a dustpan in a sealed container in a cool, dark area until you are ready to grind it with a heavy mixer or countertop grain mill.