tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119099391190506620.post4215861673808011564..comments2023-11-05T01:26:47.730-07:00Comments on small scale grain and pulse production: Re: Market Farming and GrainsSlow Hand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04986457748377914397noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119099391190506620.post-12952575140257741222009-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:002009-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00Salt Springs Seeds in British Columbia offers two ...Salt Springs Seeds in British Columbia offers two varieties of hulless oat and 8 varieties of hulless barley. They have experience in growing and harvesting all. Their packets/amounts are somewhat larger than Seed Savers or Gene Plasm project. Dan Jason reports some difficulties with U.S. customs in selling to this country. <BR/>FOLLOWING IS MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIM.<BR/><BR/>Do you have small bulk amounts of hulless oats or barley? Maybe fifty or one hundred pounds? Could you comment on the relative ease of hulling or freedom from hulls of the combined grain in any of your varieties of oats or barley? If a farmer was attempting to grow these grains for direct marketing do you think they are best suited to flour, boiled or steamed grain or ???<BR/>Hi David,<BR/>You are very big time compared to me. I only grow a few hundred row feet of my grain varieties and sell them in small packets. I have eight barleys that are very easy to hull and 2 oat varieties. These are best eaten as a cooked whole grain-2 and 1/2 water to 1 cup grain and simmered for about an hour. Their time is coming!<BR/>Best wishes<BR/>Dan<BR/><BR/>They also offer what they call their "Zero Mile Diet Seed Kit" which is a grain and bean assortment that is designed to provide an assortment of seeds that could, if grown out provide most of the food seed material for self sufficiency.David, Horsepower Organicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06694546219044391729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119099391190506620.post-75265224510602607472009-01-03T17:45:00.000-08:002009-01-03T17:45:00.000-08:00We're new to farming and growing grains here i...We're new to farming and growing grains here in central West Virginia. Hoping to find out a bit more about threshing. Where can you buy a Cicoria thresher? About how much do they cost?<BR/><BR/>I have heard similar stories about hull-less oats from most people who tried growing them: a percentage of the hulls cling. I am wondering how the Scots dealt with the hulls before there were naked varieties. Any ideas? <BR/><BR/> In October I visited the Stutzman Farms in Mt. Hope, OH. They grow and process spelt, oats, wheat, corn, etc. They use two different types of dehuller machines for cleaning the oats, spelt, and buckwheat. If I recall correctly, they use an impact dehuller for the oats and buckwheat and a friction dehuller for the spelt. <BR/><BR/> Personally,we haven't tried growing the naked oats. Instead, we grow oats & peas for cover crop seeds.<BR/><BR/> As far as finding seeds, we have looked to the local (Ohio and Maryland) Amish communities for varieties of hard winter wheat and spelt that grow in our humid climate. We have 2/3 acre of the hard winter wheat growing now. We'll see how it bakes up in July.<BR/>Joel Wolpert<BR/>Wolpertinger Farm<BR/>804 Beverly Pike<BR/>Belington, WV 26250<BR/>304-823-2960<BR/>scherzandocorrendo@gmail.comUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02816797417132371104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119099391190506620.post-91416271137423751842009-01-02T12:53:00.000-08:002009-01-02T12:53:00.000-08:00We are a longtime organic farm in Northeast Oregon...We are a longtime organic farm in Northeast Oregon We are currently producing alfalfa for hay and as leaf for several Organic herb wholesalers. We produce garlic for seed and trained teams of Belgian draft horses. We also have a vegetable and flower CSA marketing in our home valley and in Baker City. We are growing some small grain as hay (oats, triticale) in our rotation and thinking of harvesting them as grain for human and livestock feed. We are also helping an apprentice who hopes to grow and mill grains and pulses for local consumption.<BR/>We have two, at least, problems I hope you can help with. One is knowledge of the characteristics of grains that might be available. For instance, Seed Savers Yearbook 2008 lists 57 varieties of hull-less barley none of which are ones local farmers or seed men are familiar with. Jennifer Greene of Windborne farm in California uses hull-less oats in her grain and bean CSA, her seed came from an Organic food wholesaler. She also mentioned that the oats she purchased from the natural food wholesaler had poor germination. Our experience seems to confirm that. The hull-less oats we purchased from Grain Millers in Eugene would not germinate at all. I'm guessing it must have been through sterilizing heat at some time in it's history. Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm cautioned me about difficulties he has experienced with some hulls sticking to hull–less oats he has tried. Greene reports problems of this nature as being associated primarily with the presence of some wild oats in her self saved seed. I wonder if difficulties with hulls sticking on might be part of varietal character.<BR/>The other problem is availability of seed. If a farmer is able to make an educated guess about the suitability of certain varieties for his/her intended purpose where does one get seed? Several people are growing out from very limited quantities available from small scale conservators. How does one know where to start variety wise? We are specifically interested in hull-less oats, hull-less barley and wheats.<BR/>David Mader<BR/>Horsepower Organics<BR/>37036 Allstead Lane<BR/>Halfway Oregon 97834<BR/>541 742 49987<BR/>mader@pinetel.comDavid, Horsepower Organicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06694546219044391729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119099391190506620.post-16164442306443680442008-05-16T05:52:00.000-07:002008-05-16T05:52:00.000-07:00Thank you for this! Can't wait to read more!Thank you for this! Can't wait to read more!Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829609448430449654noreply@blogger.com