WHEAT HARVEST: The Farm Report 08-01-2022

The Farm Report
08-01-2022

WHEAT HARVEST

Wheat is the 'Bread (or Staff) of Life' as they say. With all the troubles in the Ukraine, and my own pleasure in growing my own stuff - and baking and eating the rewards of my efforts! - I decided to plant some Spring Wheat this year. Growing wheat is easy. It is the harvesting that is the problem, especially for a small scale guy like me. Challenge accepted! Wheat is also a pretty crop to see growing on the edge of your garden when you go visit it. There is an anthropological connection between man's belly and that glowing/blowing golden wheat out in the field. It is peaceful and satisfying to see it.

Well, it starts here. I did not think fast enough to grow Winter Wheat, which is planted in the fall. So early this spring - as soon as the ground could be worked - I cleaned up a little strip on the edge of the cornfield and made a place for my wheat field.
 

Of course, Annie was the crew boss and head supervisor. She always has this watchful look on her face that seems to say, "Tim, do you really think you know what you're doing?"  Or, "What are we going to plant out there today, Tim?"

This stuff, Annie! Johnny's Seeds happened to have Hard Durham Spring Wheat seeds in stock.

At first, I thought I'd use my little Earthway seeder to do the planting. Well, after a few trips up and down the patch, I said 'Nuts!' to that. So I went back to the tried and anciently true method of just sowing by hand. Yep. A bucket of seeds and a backhanded scattering toss as I walked. 

My Dad always said to sow half as much as you thought you should, then go back over the patch a second time and do it again. That way, you'd get a more even planting. He was right. After that was all done, I set some posts with flags to keep the herbicide sprayers off my wheat patch. I also used a little harrow on the back of Henry Ford to rake in the seeds. That's all. The seeds know what to do after that.

Time was my friend, and I got a good stand. The herbicide applicator understood the fence post signals, and got right up to the edge. The corn said thanks, and my wheat said thanks, too. We can, as it turns out, all live together in harmony if we just give it a little effort.

More time passed. If you look carefully, you can see the far end is still a little green. Wait. Wait. Wait.

So when it all starts getting that golden glow the poets love writing about, it is time to really get serious about catching the harvest - before the BIRDS do!!! They have been watching and waiting, too.

This is my little daily test. I pop off a seed head and roll it in my hand like I was wadding up a piece of paper.

As the wheat berries - the actual grains - ripen and mature, they will release from their husks better and better each day.

On 'that' day - the day when the wheat berries release cleanly, and the 'bite test' results in a little crunch instead of a bubble gum gooey feeling on your tooth - it is time to reap what we've sown. And reap it NOW! Wind, birds, dogs, and anything else running amok in the patch will leave the wheat berries on the ground instead of where we want 'em. Which is in wait for my flour mill and a bread loaf pan!

The harvest equipment for the Oakdale Farm self-sufficiency wheat patch. As you know, I love old machines and like using them. I bought this old David Bradley walking tractor for $40 at a garage sale several years ago. It was made in 1947. After a lot of TLC, some paint and a new motor, and new tires, and a good neighbor who supplied me with a bunch of attachments for it, and I'm ready to cut wheat.

These walking tractors were sold by the Sears Roebuck Company from World War II up until about the time I graduated from High School - 1967 for anybody who's guessing. They were built like Sherman Tanks, and other than the motor and rubber, they can't wear out. There are lots of them still in use.

The sickle bar mower on the front is just the ticket for cutting wheat. I just walked up and down the wheat patch mowing it off as I went. I walked up and back 3 times to get the whole field cut.

I didn't have it mounted this time, but they even came with a set of bars that deflect the wheat off to one side as you cut. You could do acres of wheat with this if you wanted to. If I had acres of wheat though, I'd want to sit in an air conditioned combine to do the harvesting today! Wheat ripens in July here, and that is never a time you need a jacket when you're out working in the garden....

All mowed down. Now, get it piled and up off the ground RIGHT NOW! If you don't, you'll quickly realize the birds will be there benefitting from your efforts to knock the wheat down to their level for them - and regret it.

It isn't hard. I used a tined fork to just lift and pull the cut wheat stalks into piles along the edge of the rows. I have an old fashioned tool called a 'corn rake' which is perfect for this. It looks like a pitchfork, but with the tines bent over like a lawn rake. Easy.

Old Emmy was called into service for this one. I put a cheap plastic tarp in the bottom of the hauler so the grain wouldn't fall out. That's the tined fork I use to lift the wheat and straw stems into the carrier.

Not too long after, all the wheat and straw was lifted off the ground into the hauler.

I left a 'tail' of the tarp hanging so I could bring it up over the grain when I was finished. This helps keep all the good stuff where I want it.

Now for the threshing part. This is where I think Tim should get at least 'Honorable Mention' in the Great Ideas Department of the Small Scale Grain Farming Handbook. This is my 'invention' for thrashing small amounts of home grown grain and beans. See that green thing? Well, that is a string leaf mulcher. It is not much beside an ordinary weed whip turned upside down and held in a stationery plastic tub. I actually bought it to shred bales of hay to make mulch for my garden. I bought it 'used' from Amazon, and I think I only paid about $75 for it several years ago.

Here's what makes it work inside. See the red weed whip 'strings'? The motor is underneath.

All set up ready to thrash. This is a little messy, and I'm greedy about getting ALL my wheat berries into the cannister for this winter's bread. 

Oh! And there's one other key component. A router speed controller. I was using this contraption to whip the soup bean seeds out of their pods one time. It was cracking a lot of the beans in half. Dang, I said. I wish this didn't run quite as fast. Then the little guy who sits on my shoulder tapped me and said, "Excuse me smart guy, but aren't you the world class furniture specialist they read about in the magazines?" Well, guilty as charged. He went on to say, "Buddy - don't you have a speed controller in the wood shop you use to slow down your big he-man router motors?" Again, guilty. The message soaked through finally. I could use that router speed controller to slow down this weed whip leaf blaster!

And by golly, it works! A router speed controller is about as common in stores as routers are. They're everywhere, and they're cheap. No reason not to have one. I'm guessing for around the price of a Ben Franklin, everybody could be set up and ready/able to harvest and thrash their own wheat and soup beans.

To use it, you just grab a handful of wheat straw and heads, and push it down inside the machine. It 'sucks' in the grass, so you really only have to get it in the area - then the leaf shredder takes over.

On mine, this is the 'just right' setting. Just on the mark between medium and full power. I set it just fast enough to knock off the hulls, but not fast enough to crack the wheat berries.

Like this. Push in the wheat, and the shredder does the rest. It feeds about as fast as you can bring it another handful of goodness.

Since it is a string whip, it isn't too dangerous. If you put your hand in there, I'm sure you'd remember not to do that again. But you'd still have your hand! Plus you'd have a good story to tell the grandkids.....

'Taint all roses. See that ball of wheat straw down in there? Well, when you see that, it means it is time to replace the whip strings.

The machine is built to do that. It isn't difficult at all. I can change mine in under 10 minutes.

And we're back in business. There are several different brands of these string leaf shredders on the market today. I think they're all the same, and they're probably all made in the same place, too. I bought this particular one because it was the cheapest. And it still works.

The shredder thrashes out the seeds from the husks and chops the straw into fine bits.

Here is what it looks like after it has gone through the leaf shredder. The wheat is down in there with everything else right now. The next step is to winnow the wheat berries out of the straw chaff. Winnowing will have to be a whole blog post on it's own. It isn't hard either, but I want to show you how I do that, too.

That whole load of wheat straw and berries took me only about an hour and a half to thrash. That includes set up and clean up time, too. It goes fast.

The green bag is full of chaff and wheat, and so is the blue tarp. The time pressure is off now - I have my wheat! I just don't have it cleaned and washed and stored in the house yet. That can happen later. I'll wait for a day when I have time, I'll wait for a day when it isn't 110F outdoors. I'll wait for a day with a pretty stiff breeze. If I can get everything except the breeze, not to worry. I have a motor tool for that!

All is well and looking good for the winter's bread. Cheers until next time from all of us out here on Oakdale Farm.

NOTE TO SELF:

As I write this note, October 25, 2022, I have begun the winnowing project. For the record, it appears we will have between 45 and 55 pounds of wheat from this harvest. One bushel of wheat is 60 pounds. So, from a 4 pound bag of seeds, I'm getting around a 10-to-1 return. Not bad!