E-Mail 'Our Family’s Garden Grain Experiment- Part 1, by Wild BillB of OR' To A Friend

17 Comments

1. Thank you, very helpful

2. Interesting article, thanks. We tried this same experiment in some unused pasture but we didn’t have enough sunshine due to trees ringing the area and the deer helped themselves. Harvest was done by hand and was used for the chickens. Next year we’ll plant in part of the garden which is protected by fencing and two giant dogs. Looking forward to part 2.

3. You can put a special saw blade on your weed wip that is used for cutting saplings. I’ve used it on heavy grasses, and it doesn’t spray them all over, just kind of lays them down.

4. BillB,
   Is it possible to attach a picture or drawing of your sheet metal modification for the weed eater? Or perhaps more detailed instructions? Thank you for the wonderful article!

5. This is very interesting, thank you so much for sharing! I have often thought about the viability of growing wheat, but living in the desert Southwest, did not think it would work. Perhaps I’ll give it a try during our winter growing season here. I also never thought of my wheat storage being seed for a crop. One question: could you please detail exactly how you germinated the seed indoors? Thanks so much!

6. A sickle bar mower on a tractor works well ,,,
   Only cut one swath at a time clean that up and then cut again and so on ,,,
   Cut the oats a little sooner next time
   We’re on the west side too,, yet to find a grain crop that won’t grow at least OK
   move your shocks on a tarp to control loss

7. Generally oats are planted in the spring and wheat in the fall though there are varieties where this can be switched. In a garden setting many times there is enough seed in straw bales purchased to get a good stand. I found this out when I used it to mulch my yard to cover the grass seed and the wheat came up and crowded out the grass.

   When harvesting by the method described it is necessary to cut slightly before it is really ready to avoid excessive grain loss. Let it dry a few days and then thresh. In my youth I was involved with both crops cutting with a binder and then going to the threshing machine and later using a combine. This brings up another subject I think those of the preparedness mindset might be interested in. The Allis Chalmers all crop harvestors can be used to cut these and most other crops. On Craigs list you will still see these listed for $500-1000 in working condition. Other than grass seed they are too slow to be of commercial use today but are ideal for harvesting 5-10 acres of small grain crops. They can be pulled with as small as 28 hp tractor. Probably should be somewhat mechanically inclined though, helps if you grew up using one. I have my grandfathers and cut $2000 in grass seed with it last year in two afternoons.

8. Sounds like a hedge trimmer would do a good job but haven’t tried one.

9. I had the same experience with naked oats, and stripping by hand was by far the most efficient harvest method. We also made a thresher from a 5 gal bucket, power drill and small bits of chain (plans found online) which worked very nicely. This year I plan on building a winnowing table (simple a small table with a blower underneath) as the “pouring from bucket to bucket in a breeze” was a little too unpredictable for me.

   1. Suggest drape 9×12 tarp over 5 gal buckets along sides, and secure over saw horse at far end, creating an alley/chute. Place grain at near end, use leaf blower. Winnowed grain collects at far end at the base of the saw horse.

      1. yes, this is what we did as well, but used an old bed sheet. the cotton seemed to hold the hulls and chaff better, but let the grain slide easier. a large box fan worked better than the leaf blower (too strong for us). thanks for the input!

10. Great article. We are about to close on our first ranch (also in SW Oregon). So this is very timely for us

11. Tried this in two garden boxes in Texas, just to see what would happen. Grew like gangbusters, and a second crop came in the next spring on its own. Cut it down with a big knife, the hardest part is threshing it to get your wheat grains.

12. Just started our first vegetable garden this year. Great learning experience. I’ve been considering wheat next year. How many hours of direct sunlight does wheat need to grow?

13. Interesting article.

14. You can get an attachment for your scythe that looks like fingers that are parallel to the blade. These catch the wheat and oat stalks for binding. It takes a little getting used to but one or two swings and you have a bundle in the forks.

15. Since I have cut wheat, corn and sugar out of my diet for the most part, I hadn’t really worried with trying to grow the wheat and corn. I have thought of growing some corn for my chickens, and so I have been thinking through how to best make it happen that the patches I would use get fertilized. I am basically setting up some paddocks for my animals, where I rotate cows, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. I put the birds in moveable pens. I leave each pen in one spot long enough to fertilize it well. I don’t yet have enough pens to make a noticeable difference in the fertility of the pasture, but I’m getting there. If I was growing corn for the birds, I would run the chicken tractors over it pretty heavily.

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