Prairie Gold

[CapeCMom]

Does anyone use Prairie Gold wheat berries? I have been looking at them through Montana, and a lot of different sites say it makes excellent Flour for bread-it seems a little less expensive than Some other varieties of wheat, like white and red.-I can't find anyone in Mass that sells wheat in bulk-any ideas?-shipping for online purchases seems like a lot, so I wanted to get a good product for a little less to help make up for the shipping costs.

[Anon001]

CapeCMom,

One member has a link in the Member Business section.

Flourgirl's website posting (http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/showthread.php?t=4202)

I bought some whole wheat flour from her and thought I got a fair deal even with shipping costs. She keeps it to a minimum.

If I order specialty flour again, I will be giving her a first try. I'd call her and at least talk with her.

Paul

[CapeCMom]

Thanks Paul!

[Klapton]

Prairie Gold ROCKS! It is, hands down, my favorite grain for making bread.

[Anon001]

Why not grow your own in the garden? I plan to disk up about an acre this summer and then come fall I will sow wheat. Then I can have my own wheat and flour. I don't know why more homesteaders don't grow their own. Wheat will produce an average of 30 bushel or more to the acre in most places and is very very easy to grow.

[Klapton]

Why not grow your own in the garden? I plan to disk up about an acre this summer and then come fall I will sow wheat. Then I can have my own wheat and flour. I don't know why more homesteaders don't grow their own. Wheat will produce an average of 30 bushel or more to the acre in most places and is very very easy to grow.

I'm definitely considering doing a small patch as a trial run. I think the biggest discouragement is harvesting. I found this place that sells custom scythes: http://www.scythesupply.com/outfits.htm . But to raise and harvest enough grain for most people's level of consumption either means expensive equipment (large grain farms already have this) or a LOT of hard work.

[Anon001]

I'm definitely considering doing a small patch as a trial run. I think the biggest discouragement is harvesting. I found this place that sells custom scythes: http://www.scythesupply.com/outfits.htm . But to raise and harvest enough grain for most people's level of consumption either means expensive equipment (large grain farms already have this) or a LOT of hard work.

Klapton,

One acre would probably provide your family with all the wheat you could use in year. One acre of wheat will average 30 bushel, even in a bad year, it will do 20.... And one acre can be harvested by hand.

That's what I plan to do this year. As soon as it dries out again, I'm gonna disk and prepare about an acre for wheat. Then come fall, I'll plant it. Next summer, when my neighbors have their combines out, I'll see if one will pull in and run over that acre (maybe 2). If not, that will be a small enough area that I should be able to harvest, thresh and winnow it myself.

[NCLee]

This thread has me wondering if any of those small tractor pulled combines are still around today. The ones I see around here now are the monster self-propelled units.

When Dad grew wheat he had one that he pulled with a MF tractor. It took two people to operate. The rider on the back changed the bags as the combine filled them. Rider would tie up the bags and drop them down the chute to the ground.

Dad, also, earned extra money by cutting wheat for others during harvest season. His combine had two heads - one for wheat and beans, the other for corn. He'd switch them, as needed.

Mentioned this as there still may be some of those old combines sitting under shelters just waiting for someone with an acre or 2 for themselves And/or as an income producer, if others in the area need a few acres harvested.

Just a though...
Lee

[flourgirl]

We grow our own certified organic wheat and do custom orders for berries and flour. I charge the actual shipping charges and we always ship the cheapest way possible.
Our hard red wheat is 14.2% protein which makes for a very nice bread as protein is what makes the bread rise.
I also grind the flour fresh for every order which you won't get in a large commercial flour mill, and as a plus, our wheat never comes in contact with any tree nuts or peanuts for those with nut allergies. There is a lot of info on my website - www.organicwheatproducts.com and we also have had ads in BH mag.

[Klapton]

Klapton,

One acre would probably provide your family with all the wheat you could use in year. One acre of wheat will average 30 bushel, even in a bad year, it will do 20.... And one acre can be harvested by hand.

That's what I plan to do this year. As soon as it dries out again, I'm gonna disk and prepare about an acre for wheat. Then come fall, I'll plant it. Next summer, when my neighbors have their combines out, I'll see if one will pull in and run over that acre (maybe 2). If not, that will be a small enough area that I should be able to harvest, thresh and winnow it myself.

How's your back? Mine's not so good, hehe. That's why I'll be starting small. I've also given some thought to whether or not I will grow and cut my own hay as well. Seems like an awful lot of work, and as long as fossil-fueled tractors and trucks are still running, I'll probably just buy it. But I am always imagining and thinking of a future where those things won't be there, or where they will be stupidly expensive.

(I don't know if I mentioned this yet - I haven't bought my land yet. I just retired from the Army Reserve, and am getting ready to sell my suburban home and make my move. So all of this is merely theoretical planning at this point.)

[DM]

This thread has me wondering if any of those small tractor pulled combines are still around today. The ones I see around here now are the monster self-propelled units.

When Dad grew wheat he had one that he pulled with a MF tractor. It took two people to operate. The rider on the back changed the bags as the combine filled them. Rider would tie up the bags and drop them down the chute to the ground.

Dad, also, earned extra money by cutting wheat for others during harvest season. His combine had two heads - one for wheat and beans, the other for corn. He'd switch them, as needed.

Mentioned this as there still may be some of those old combines sitting under shelters just waiting for someone with an acre or 2 for themselves And/or as an income producer, if others in the area need a few acres harvested.

Just a though...
Lee

There's still plenty of them around here... Most of them could be bought with the bin or the bagger option.

I owned an Allis Chalmers Allcrop, and they were probably the best small grains combine of it's time. The grain i combined was so clean, the mill i sold it to didn't even have to clean it to resell it.

Sadly, a kid arsoned the barn i had my Allcrop in, and i lost it to the fire... I decided to not replace it, as they don't last long left outside, and the barn i stored it in was gone.

DM

[NCLee]

Sadly, a kid arsoned the barn i had my Allcrop in, and i lost it to the fire... I decided to not replace it, as they don't last long left outside, and the barn i stored it in was gone.

DM

I'm sorry to hear that. I'll keep my language polite, so I won't say how I feel about vandals. A few years ago, 2 tobacco barns and a small house across the road from me were torched. A little farther down the road, a beautiful old family homestead was burned the same night. Stlll makes me mad every time I think of the history that was lost when that house was left a pile of ashes. They burned several other buildings before they were finally caught.

Anyway, i don't remember the brand of Dad's combine. He sold it when his health forced him to stop farming. The great thing about those old combines is they could get into small places/fields where today's massive ones can't travel. I'd highly recommend that anyone growing small parcels of grain consider trying to find one for the reasons mentioned earlier. Might be worth it for a few neighbors to go in together, if one person doesn't want to make the investment alone, or have a shelter for it.

Just some thoughts this morn.
Lee

[DM]

Here's my Allcrop 60 in action...

http://www.fototime.com/E51AC2718C58822/standard.jpg

It sure did a great job!

DM

[CapeCMom]

Paul, I don't think wheat would grow good in the Northeast-may be I am misinformed...
Plus to be perfectly honest, I don't have enough land to grow my own. Our next project will be putting up a small barn, so that will take up even more room. Our small 16x20 two story barn is too small but has come in handy to store equipment-after the new barn goes up, I plan to use it a a goat house. Getting back on subject-I have asked our local grain mill to order wheat for me and his response was comical-"what for-like-to eat?". He still hasn't called me back. hmmmmmmm. I have asked around and everyone looks at me like I have three heads. Even our health food store was unwilling to look into it for me. The old why don't you just buy it (wheat flour) expression was what most have reacted. I appreciate the links you have provided, because it looks like I will definitely have to order it online.

[Anon001]

CapeCMom,

I worked for a number of years for a farmers co-op. I can tell you that you do NOT want wheat from an elevator, feed mill, grain mill, etc, if those places specialize in livestock feeds. The elevators and home grain bins that store grains use some nasty chemicals to keep the bugs killed out because they will store the grains for as long as a year and bugs can destroy thousands of bushels of grain in no time. One of the chemicals used is phos-toxin... If you inhale it, you die. That is common in grain elevators for corn. Wheat has a chemical put on it that is liquid and very toxic. That is why I NEVER buy any grain product, for food, from anywhere that can't guarantee it's been stored without those chemicals. If it is a food processing plant, they probably "rinse" the grains before processing or something, but I don't know.

If I were you, I would consider ordering the wheat flour from FlourGirl that is a member on here. I've ordered whole wheat flour from her and their wheat comes off their farm and most likely doesn't have the chemcicals for long term storage that you might encounter elsewhere. I'd give her a call and talk to her about it.

Good luck,
Paul

[CapeCMom]

Paul-THANK YOU for those words of warning-I had no idea. Will call flourgirl. Thanks!

[DM]

Around here, if you see a farmer combineing, you can stop in and buy a bu. or two, right out of the field...

DM