[MikeM]

found a place, through another forum, that supplies garden scale quantities of wheat seed, so thought I'd realise a long held ambition to attempt to grow my own. I reckon I have an area of about 150m2 (approx. 15 foot by 30 foot) which is as yet virgin grass (I hope to get it dug this spring, if the weather ever allows such a luxury as food growing), does anyone have any tips, ideas, advice etc? I have never grown cereals before, so it's a big unknown. Don't even know how much seed I will need for this size.

[bloomer]

sorry only ever grown stuff like that accidentally when chooks moved off ground and their mixed corn germinated...


had a great mixed crop though...


shame it was somewhere i was trying to return to lawn though (this was when we lived in the midlands)

[benkt]

Care to share the supplier? I've done about half an acre of barley in the past by getting a bit of seed from a friendly farmer, but getting most grain seed in small amounts is a real struggle.

[MikeM]

http://www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/Seeds-s/1814.htm
 
I assume the ship to the UK and I've no idea how big the bags are but they are the only people I have ever seen supplying small quantities of seeds.

[benkt]

Thanks - will check them out.

[RUSTYME]

Hello Mike ,
15 feet x 30 feet is 50m2 not 150m2 lol . You will get about 1lb of wheat seed per sq yd or metre , at harvest , dependant on weather , sowing density , ground conditions etc etc .
A good handful of seed per sq yd will do the job , but i have only ever grown winter sown wheat , end of sept in fact .
I grow an old variety of wheat , 'square heads master' . This variety , from the 1850's , grows to about 5-6 feet tall , and needs no fert .
It gives me the 1lb of seed  per sq yd , and about the same in straw . Modern varieties grow to about 2 feet or so tall , and with fert , will give more seed per acre .
I grow wheat , oats , barley and rye , in small amounts , to keep up my fresh seed stock .
 All the above cereals are more or less sow and forget till harvest time , they are just grasses after all .
Your wheat may head up by harvest time , if you get it in now . Spring sown barley and oats too . Worth having a go anyway .
Good luck .

[MikeM]

heh, fat fingers and small mousepad keys. I looked at what I wrote for ages cos it looked wrong, but couldn't see for looking.
 
I can't see the spot getting dug any time soon, even though it's a well drained area, it's still waterlogged, IME a week of dry weather, with a breeze thrown in dries it out enough to start digging. Don't like to dog waterlogged soil. Maybe we'll get lucky with the weather...
If I can't get it dug in the next month, then I guess I'll put if off till the autumn.

[katie]

Gene Logsdon's classic @Small scale Grain Raising' might help. I've always liked the idea but never got round to it (like many other things!)

[RUSTYME]

lol , yep , funny how mistakes just disappear , till someone else spots them !
Keeping the seed in the fridge till you can get the ground ready in early spring , may spur the seed into heading up at harvest time , the seed needs the action of frost ( winter temps , or fridge )  to head up , (create seed heads) .
Spring sown seeds don't need this action , but they usually produce less seed at harvest than winter sown seed .
Half a dozen or so seeds grow perfectly ok in a 3" plant pot , and will give upto 150  or so seeds at harvest , i grew 10 pots last year and averaged 169 seeds per pot of 6 wheat seeds sown , barley , oats , and rye slightly less  .

[Dreich Pete]

I'd all but given up on the idea of grains because my field is generally quite wet (and will be until I get the ditch cleared out) and it's in a dip that can act as a frost trap. Am I right to assume this isn't ideal?

If there are people who grow smaller quantities perhaps there's an opportunity to share the seed.

[RUSTYME]

Oats may be better for the wetter bits , but wheat may not do so well .
 The 'official' seed iist for cereals contains the only 'permitted' varieties that are allowed to be traded . However , i bought my ' square heads master' wheat seed as ' 3lb of chicken feed' .
Rye is basically just rye anyway , so just grew some that i had , and i got the oats and barley from some organic feed seed i bought , not sure of the age of these varieties , but they grow fine . The oats make great porridge , the barley makes lovely pearl barley and the rye , very good rye bread . The wheat makes excellent wholemeal bread .
I also grow poppies for the seed , opium poppies actually . You get a a few thousand seeds per head . Flax , brown and golden , hemp , ameranth and quinoa . 
All taste great when added to the bread .

[Lesley Silvester]

The way the weather has been, growing rice may be a better option. 

[RUSTYME]

You need 5 months for that though Lesley .
I have grown it though , i used ordinary wholegrain  long grain rice i had in the cupboard .
Kelp , may be the way to go !

[pgkevet]

http://www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/Seeds-s/1814.htm
 
I assume the ship to the UK and I've no idea how big the bags are but they are the only people I have ever seen supplying small quantities of seeds.

The lack of any idea of quantity of seed is off-putting.