The bread of life. The body of Christ. Flesh of the Earth. Our relationship with grains is as old as time. It is our ancestral teacher in growing, cooking, and brewing. There is nothing like grandma’s fresh-baked bread or homemade tortillas. When it comes to sustainable agriculture, traditional acequia agriculture, and food security: grains are essential. When all else failed, sprouted wheat was there to feed our ancestors traveling across the sea, up the Camino Real, or at home in the mountains during those long winters. Pan de noche became panocha in the dark times of hunger that are saved by the sacrifices made during Lent. Grains were grown in huge fields, threshed with horses and goats, aigriando to separate wheat from chaff, and stored in a troja, a bin made of adobe and covered with rough-cut lumber, located in the dispensa, or pantry, which also housed a cat to keep out rodents. This was the foundational sustenance of the household, not to mention the benefits to adobe construction and animal husbandry with the production of straw.
I have to thank the late Vicente Valdez (que en paz descanse) for introducing me to the importance of grain production. Back in 2009 I tried a couple of rows of winter wheat given to me by Vicente, saved the seed, and have been planting it ever since. Several years later I added rye to mix (for food, not cover crop). I have also experimented with a black barley and three varieties of sorghum. As far as pseudo-grains go, I really like to grow amaranth and buckwheat (for food, not cover crop). I have also grown Quinoa with some success. But the easiest ones to grow in my opinion are winter wheat and rye. These, along with garlic, are planted in the Fall, overwinter, and give a jump-start on the growing season which begins for most in the late Winter or early Spring. In the following article, when I use the term ‘grain’ or ‘grains,’ I am referring to winter wheat and rye for the purpose of this article.
Preparing the soil for grains is not too intensive. I usually use my 10 horse power tiller to prepare the soil, but last year I had some tractor work done and all that was needed was to break up the soil with the uñas, or those claws that open channels in the soil about a foot deep and about a foot apart.
Once the soil is cleared, I rake it even and then make furrows with the pointy hoe. In these rows are broadcast seed which is then raked with the flat side of the rake to bury the seed. Then a 55 gallon barrel is used to press the soil down to make good contact with the seed. This work should be completed around the new moon in November.
The grains will be irrigated by fall and winter snows (or rain in the case of the last few years of climate change), and should emerge before winter solstice, especially rye. This year was strange in that none of my grains emerged before Winter Solstice, and I even planted early in October. Was the seed any good? Did birds or other critters eat them all? As the winter set in, I had to prepare myself for the potential of failure as there was no sign of emerging grains…
But come mid- to late March I saw the grains emerging. The rye seemed much more prolific than my winter wheat, but the wheat eventually caught up and produced well. It is nice to have acequia irrigation starting in April to supplement my grains’ needs until acequia waters diminish in July. By then, the grains are finishing their life cycle and grain maturation is almost complete.
The rye emerged first and matured earlier than the winter wheat and I was harvesting by hand using an hos (sickle) the end of June. Winter wheat took a little longer and was ready by mid-July. I wait until the grain head is dried out before harvesting. It is important to watch the rain, I don’t want my grains to get moisture and mold from the rain. Especially rye which can produce a fungus called ergot. Smut will form on wheat if it is infected with the spores and if the conditions are favorable for mold.
The grain is harvested and put in bundles called sheaves, and a bunch of these make a shock, arranged in a cone-like pile to finish drying out. Once the grain-head is completely dry it can be threshed with a flail, stick, or by stomping to get the grain out and separate it from the straw. This is a time- and labor-intensive process but I enjoy the artistic and rustic nature of doing it, participating in the beauty of grain production and mutualism with these crops that have been part of humanity since time immemorial. It makes me feel really close to the Earth and her food.
Once the grain is threshed, it has to be separated from the straw and stubble using the wind or a fan to blow away the chaff while the grain falls in a bin. This process is central to cleaning seeds of all kinds. It is very rewarding to see the volume of pure grain that results from this process.
Now that we have the pure grain, it can be boiled like a pilaf for a side dish. Or even better, it can be milled into flour and made into bread, tortillas, pancakes, or my favorite, waffles. The grains can be sprouted and dried to make a super-food. They can be malted and brewed into beer. Before all this feasting occurs, however, you have to make sure to put aside enough grain to plant in the coming year!
Grains are an important part of a cropping system that complements legumes, fruits, vegetables, and roots in the components of crop diversity that is essential for a sustainable agricultural ecology. I consider rye to be one of the strongest, most resilient, and most productive crops, especially in the context of climate change. The winter wheat also shows resilience and generous yields. Hopefully this article gives you some enthusiasm and information to help you establish a relationship with grains.
All text and photos copyright 2024 Miguel Santistevan. No duplication without permission please.
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