Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Saturday, 26 November 2011
First shoots
To be honest I'm not sure how much growth to expect before winter sets in but there are at least some signs of life.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Perseverance
So after last year's failure I thought I'd have one more go and try planting some winter wheat. The nice folk at Kings Seeds supplied me with what I believe to be some Solstice seeds and I did a little digging:
My spade-work revealed the ground wasn't quite as fertile as I'd thought, being riddled with lots of small roots from the surrounding foliage; turns out digging is the very definition of back-breaking work. So as an extra precaution I dug-in some general purpose compost too, which probably isn't ideal but it was on special offer at the local DIY place.
I drilled the seeds this year to save a bit of time, and finally made a slightly more thorough job of the bird netting, now the waiting begins...
My spade-work revealed the ground wasn't quite as fertile as I'd thought, being riddled with lots of small roots from the surrounding foliage; turns out digging is the very definition of back-breaking work. So as an extra precaution I dug-in some general purpose compost too, which probably isn't ideal but it was on special offer at the local DIY place.
I drilled the seeds this year to save a bit of time, and finally made a slightly more thorough job of the bird netting, now the waiting begins...
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
So it's harvest time...
End of July beginning of August sheaves of golden wheat should be rustling in the wind ready to harvest, if only...
On the right is the healthy rogue wheat, on the left one of the bigger plants from the main crop :-(
Well I've harvested what few grains I have, there are so few I could probably give them all names, see below:
Well at least the winnowing and chaffing wasn't too arduous ;-) but when all's said and done not even enough for a cracker. So I guess that's where our story ends for now, maybe when the seasons roll round I'll consider finding some winter-wheat to plant...
On the right is the healthy rogue wheat, on the left one of the bigger plants from the main crop :-(
Well I've harvested what few grains I have, there are so few I could probably give them all names, see below:
Well at least the winnowing and chaffing wasn't too arduous ;-) but when all's said and done not even enough for a cracker. So I guess that's where our story ends for now, maybe when the seasons roll round I'll consider finding some winter-wheat to plant...
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Ear we go
So we have some ears appearing on a significant number of the plants:
Whilst this is good news, compared to the rogue-growth in the back lawn the main crop is only around 30cm tall, versus over 70cm, and the ears are small (I'll try to produce an image directly comparing the two in due course). None of which bodes well for the flour yield I reckon, ho hum. Oh well at least I'm not alone the U.K. drought has affected many professional growers with some reported to be ploughing their cereal crops back into the ground and replanting (see here).
Whilst this is good news, compared to the rogue-growth in the back lawn the main crop is only around 30cm tall, versus over 70cm, and the ears are small (I'll try to produce an image directly comparing the two in due course). None of which bodes well for the flour yield I reckon, ho hum. Oh well at least I'm not alone the U.K. drought has affected many professional growers with some reported to be ploughing their cereal crops back into the ground and replanting (see here).
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
Slow and steady
So there are signs of growth with the odd shoot standing out above the rest, here's hoping it's not just grass:
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