[Scpg] report on home-scale grain growing - last evening's meeting

[LBUZZELL at aol.com]

At last evening's meeting of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Guild, Marshall 
 Chrostowski spoke to an eager audience of around 40 people in the Holy 
Cross  church auditorium on the Mesa about home-scale grain growing.  Marshall 
is  a fount of invaluable information and experience, and we all learned a  
lot.
 
Marshall went over the various grains to help us understand the different  
options. He also stressed the beauty of the grains in landscapes and 
gardens. He  urged us to appreciate the fact that there are 10,000 years of culture 
in every  seed and that we need to grow out the wide variety of grains in 
order to  preserve them.  Most grain seed only remains viable for 2-3 years.
 
He recommended that those of us in this area who are just starting to grow  
grain might want to start with "naked" barley (lacking the 
difficult-to-remove  husk), which is planted in the spring.  I believe you can make flour 
from  it (my notes are a little shaky) and also he mentioned that if you boil 
it, it  takes around 50 minutes to cook, so patience is needed.
 
There is also "naked" oats, which likes cool, moist weather.
 
Rye doesn't grow well here. It's cold tolerant.
 
Triticale is a possibility - has big seeds.  It's a combination of  wheat 
and rye. Not for bread, but makes a good cereal.  He also discussed  the 
heritage bread wheats: Eincorn, Emmer and Spelt. Rice isn't ideal for our  area 
-- needs 200 days of warmth and moisture. Buckwheat is a phosphorus  
accumulator. Corn, sorghum, millet, sorghum, quinoa and teff were also  discussed. 
There is a perennial sorghum.
 
Marshall gave us a good handout with recommended resources. See 
_www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/seeds/wheat.htm_ 
(http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/seeds/wheat.htm) 
 
He recommended that people contact the Kusa Seed Society in Ojai at (805)  
646-0772 or see the website at _www.ancientcerealgrains.org_ 
(http://www.ancientcerealgrains.org)  for  more information and seeds.  He also mentioned 
the Bountiful Gardens  catalog _www.bountifulgardens.org_ 
(http://www.bountifulgardens.org) 
 
Books he recommended: "Small-Scale grain Raising" by Gene Logsdon.  
"Homegrown Whole Grains" by Sara Pitzer. "Grow Your Own Grains" in the Dec 08  
issue of Ecology Action, Willits, CA. "Growing Your Own Grains" by Peter  
Goodchild 
_http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=540&Itemid=1_ 
(http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=540&Itemid=1) 
 
And "Seed to Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth, Seed Savers Exchange, 2002.
 
Hopefully some local gardeners and permaculturists will join Marshall in  
experimenting with grains in our area and we can share the results with each  
other.
 
Many thanks to Marshall for sharing his wisdom with us,
 
Linda
 
 
 
 
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