Allotments 4 All

Hello everybody,

I can't find anything, whether online or in the shops, about growing grains such as wheat, oats, barley, etc.
Would anyone know where can I find more information about how to grow such crops, and where can I buy seeds?

Thank you very much

Have a look at Charles Dowding. He is growing rye.

All right, thanks Infradig. Rye would be nice, I could make some German bread with that!
What about wheat?

this is an American website, mostly aimed at homesteaders/small holdings but may be of interest - https://morningchores.com/growing-wheat/

Do you have room to grow grains, one acre yields about enough grain for 60lb of flour. Providing you have all the right conditions and are prepared to spray all sorts of stuff to deter all the pests and diseases that will wipe out your crop. Lots of legal requirements as well to prevent the cross contamination of farmers crops. Buy a decent bag of flour from a working mill and use your plot for safe stuff.

I agree with Ace about the return for the space taken, it hardly seems worth it. But I guess you could say that about many of the crops that we grow in small spaces. If it is for entertainment then go for it!! I haven't heard about the legal requirements you talk about, Ace. Can you tell us some more??

I searched "growing wheat on allotment" and found a lot of interesting items (including some old threads here). A very informative one (Canadian but seems still relevant) was https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/im-growing-wheat-this-year-and-you-can-too/ - if only for the instruction:

"Once it has sprouted KEEP THE WHEAT STRESS FREE by keeping the area weeded and watered" - I don't think shouting at it will help!

I did one of the Member experiments for Garden Organic and grew wheat.
It was about 2 yard block and ripened okay. Threashing it and then the grinding was fun and I did bake some bread cakes which were slightly gritty in texture. Hand grinding the grains was the hardest part.

You could save the hassle of grinding them and just use them whole.  I cook whole spelt grains when I can find them - good in stews, soups or as a side dish with vegetables, meat etc instead of other carbs.  Very tasty and nutritious.

this link has a few ideas :  https://www.loveandlemons.com/how-to-cook-wheat-berries/

Hi everybody,

Thanks for your responses, especially Obelixx for the morningchores website, this has some good information.
For milling, I will probably buy this: https://www.sanaproducts.com/product/sana-grain-mill
I have their bread maker, it works really well.

Say I want to give it a try, where can I buy some seeds?

Thanks!

I did a Google search and got this plus there were many more sources as well. https://www.amazon.co.uk/wheat-seeds/s?k=wheat+seeds

That link does not seem to work try this one https://www.realseeds.co.uk/grains.html

Kings seeds seem to have wheat and barley, under Ancient Grains, both 200gm for £2.90 plus postage

Thanks a lot InfraDig. I didn't know about Kinds seeds, I will order from them.

We rent our field from a farmer who grows wheat. He would prefer we did not grow it on the allotments as he said it could spread disease to his crops if not done properly without the regulations he has to abide by. He does take a few sackfuls  up to a local working watermill for grinding. I have purchased flour from the mill in the past so I will let him grow it for me in the next field 10m from my plot.

Buckwheat is worth growing - it is delicious & makes a fantastic (grey) flour especially if the black husk is left on - because then its nutty flavour comes through even if it's only 10% of a mix that's mostly barley wheat or rye.

This grey flour is very difficult to source in any other way - despite the fact that the very best crepes and soba noodles are made from it.

If shelled (as groats) it's an excellent gluten free grain and tastes very similar to wheat.

It's probably my favourite rice substitute - in fact better than rice - except real basmati.

It's a beautiful plant and fantastic for pollinating insects - its only drawback is that the head doesn't all ripen at once - so the first picking might only give you half the yield, the next half that & so on.

Buckwheat groats are reasonably priced from the (posher) supermarkets and germination is very easy - to at least 80% maybe 90% or more.

Cheers.

I grew Rye by mistake.  It was supposed to be green manure, but I did not manage to cover in black plastic before I went on holiday.  It was about a foot tall at the end of April when I got back to it about three weeks later it was five foot tall, and I loved the ears waving in the wind.  In the end I harvested it and got about half a bucket, which I have now sown for next year.
The big surprise was it ended up 6 ft tall, and each ear was 6 inches long with four rows of seeds.  The grazing rye I had sown in previous years was about 3 ft tall, with 4 inch ears and 2 rows of seeds. 
I would like to try triticale, but cannot find a source of a small amount. 

Thanks a lot all! I bought some wheat and barley from kings seeds. I would be interested in getting rye and buckwheat, as Vinlander and Digeroo mentioned. Anyone would have any idea where to find those? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything... Thanks a lot!

Quote from: cropping on December 11, 2022, 15:59:06
Thanks a lot all! I bought some wheat and barley from kings seeds. I would be interested in getting rye and buckwheat, as Vinlander and Digeroo mentioned. Anyone would have any idea where to find those? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything... Thanks a lot!

Buckwheat groats are available at Sainsbury's, Tesco, M&S (& Ocado) - you only need to check they aren't roasted - I tend to go to Polish shops but I have to ask for a translation of the label.

The removal of the black seed case has virtually no effect on the germination (and it's sold separately because it's a source of various medicines eg. rutin - and also favoured as a filler for heat & support pillows).

Unfortunately this meant that a couple of years ago the nutty flavour disappeared from the flour (along with the grey colour) - because most of the flavour is in the husk - another good reason to grow & grind it yourself.

A few grey flours are available but the flavour isn't all there in the ones I can afford.

Cheers.