One of my
dreams is to be as self sufficient as possible... within reason anyway! I make a lot of b
read, cakes etc. and therefore one thing I would love to have is my ow
n wheat to make my own flour. Today we finally moved one step closer to t
his dream... on a very small scale! At the end of November some of the junior high school students randomly planted some wheat for me and my children stood on it occasionally, I weeded it very occasionally and somehow it managed to grow big and strong. My mother helped me harvest it when she was here and it stayed dryin
g in the tunnel house until today when we finally decided to do something with it. Un
fortunately I only planted a small amount so it wasn't worth going to borrow my friend's machine to separate it all out and therefore the traditional style of beating it with a bottle and then trying to separate the husks from the actual wheat began. We
did resort to throwing it through a separating machine at one stage, but basically it was all done by hand.Many hours later and we finally had our first ever wheat. I think we have to dry it again one more time and then work out how to make it into actual flour.... or perhaps I'll just keep it all and use it for planting more for next year - when we will definitely be using a machine to harvest it!
Yeah for home grown wheat! We mill ours by the cupful in the blender. It comes out quite coarse but not inedibly so. You do need to let it rest if you are making something that cooks quickly (like pancakes) as it needs to soak up the liquid and soften a bit. Did you grow bread wheat or udon wheat?
ReplyDeleteWell done! That's REAL self sufficiency!!
ReplyDeletethat's so cool!
ReplyDeleteThis is so amazingly cool. Honestly, I admire people who can grow their own veggies, not needing to buy any from the store (like I do ; ), make their own wheat, like you just did, the eggs. I honestly am awed by what you do. It's amazing. To live off the land and be self sufficient like that....I just respect that so much. Well done. : )
ReplyDeleteGreat! I really admired this effort! This is just the beginning-keep going!
ReplyDeleteThat's really inspiring Jo, it must give you great satisfaction to be achieving your dream. Goodluck with next years planting/harvest : )
ReplyDeleteFirst prize for the most unique use of a Bailey's bottle!
ReplyDeletegod, talk about self sufficiency dedication! Let me know when the first batch of home cooked with home grown wheat flour baking or bread is on offer :D
ReplyDelete