This year we've had both wheat and teasels growing in the garden. No doubt both self seeded from bird food or by birds dropping the seeds over the garden.
We've just left them to grow
The teasels have grown so tall and have now started to flower. Apparently the bees love the flowers.
I'm
looking forward to the Goldfinches finding them in the autumn. We really should grow sunflowers too as all the birds love the sunflower hearts we put out for them.
The wheat grew sturdy and stong in one of the flower beds, surrounded by Purple Loosestrife.
Last week Paul decided to harvest the wheat and leave it to dry indoors.
When it was dry he took one head and separated the grain from the chaff. The result is below.
All ten heads of wheat have now been separated. Next thing is to grind it just for the experience as there wouldn't be enough to produce anything with. We just need to find some suitable stones to make a makeshift quern.
There's a whole field of wheat at the end of the meadow - I picked a head the other day but it's still a few weeks away from harvest.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful, I always associate harvest with school summer holidays and potato picking week with October half term. I hope the wheat is safely gathered in in this strange summer weather we are having:)
DeleteWhat fun. I’d send you some of my granite beach stones if it didn’t cost so much to post. We have wheat to grind at the mill where I work. Children love to have a go :). B x
ReplyDeleteIf we lived near enough to a working mill I know Paul would love to volunteer. We have a few stones around the pond which may work for the experiment, or maybe we should just feed the grains back to the birds, we'll have to decide soon:)
DeleteThe wheat and teasels make an interesting addition to the garden Rosie. Is the separated grain also known as wheatgerm? I was thinking maybe Paul could use it as it is in one of his homemade loaves. I've grown some sunflowers this year and am looking forward to watch the birds that come and find them. The bees love them anyway! :)
ReplyDeleteWe did wonder about sprinkling some of the grains on top of a round bread loaf when he makes one. We must sow sunflower seeds next year we had some for this year but somehow they never got used as we were concentrating on sowing vegetable seed:
DeleteI once was allowed to grind some grain in a Berber village in the High Atlas. From the cheerful slap on the head that the old woman gave me I take it that I didn't do it right!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a place to learn or try to anyway:)
DeleteHow interesting to see wheat and teasels suddenly appearing in your garden. I had a surprise today when I saw a tall poppy that has been growing in the vegetable bed open up to reveal a frilly-petalled pink flower. It certainly wasn't deliberately sown there. I'm rather pleased and will save the seed heads.
ReplyDeleteYour unexpected poppy sounds very pretty. We have a few red ones self seeded, always before the self seeded ones have been a mauve colour with a darker centre, I also spotted a Jacob's Ladder at the top of the garden which must have self seeded too:)
DeleteThe teasels are gorgeous & the wheat looks lovely interspersed with purple loosestrife. Maybe the ground up wheat could then be fed to the birds, but it all sounds very interesting. Take care, stay safe & huggles.
ReplyDeleteWe've had loads of purple loosestrife this year and willowherb too, I think if we can't find suitablestones for the grain it may have to be a psetle and mortar or feed them back to the birds:)
DeleteWhat a great idea with very satisfying results. The teasers look so funny with their stripe of flowers but there's always a bee on them. We planted some of the sunflower seeds from the bird food mix, they have grown but no flowers yet. You might have enough flour for a tiny scone!
ReplyDeleteI hope your sunflowers flower,probably later this year and leave lots of seeds for the birds. I always think of teasels as dry and brown at the end of the eyar so it is lovely to see them fresh and green and also in flower:)
DeleteOh this brings back memories of my great grandma's she used to have teasel in her garden but used to pick it and find sheep's wool (no idea where from!) and she tried to teach us how the wool was pulled with the teasels! Of course they are great for the Goldfinch too :) we've had a little wheat grow in a couple of spots in the garden too.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely memories to have of your grandma and her teasels. I'd completely forgotten that they were used to card wool - what painstaking work it must have been. I was also thinking of the National Trust who place a few teasels on chairs in their properties if they don't want people to sit on them:)
DeleteLovely post Rosie - I love teasels but never grown any. We have echinops with flowers a simailar shape which the bees love. Please let us know how you get on with grinding the wheat. It sounds an interesting project :)
ReplyDeleteIf we manage to find suitable shaped stones I will take photos, otherwise it may be pestle and mortar but them as there will be so litle flour maybe we may just feed the grains back to the birds, it would be great to grow enough wheat to grind into flour to make just one loaf. When we were small a friend and I kept a couple of teasels in a shoe box and pretended they were baby hedgehogs:)
DeleteThe teasels are wonderful, there are some in a local area near me. Some have turned purple. Hope your goldfinches find them. A perfect picture would be a goldfinch balancing on a teasel. :) X
ReplyDeleteI bet a whole area of teasels look wonderful when they are all purple, we always have lots of goldfinches so I hope they find the teasels as they are not close to the bird feeders - I'd love to get that photo!:)
DeleteIt's great you let them grow! I've never had teasels in the garden but have had wheat growing from bird seed. I've never harvested it but did enjoy it being in the garden (as did several insects!). Mine is all gone now due to the garden work but I'm sure it'll be back!
ReplyDeleteWe've mostly let everything grow this year although some Willow Herb had to be taken out as it was strangling the other plants, same with Wood Avens. Your new garden looks wonderful and I'm sure the wheat will return:)
DeleteThere is so much life in a garden. Yours is lovely, Rosie.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia:)
DeleteHow wonderful to suddenly have wheat and easels appear in the garden and such fun to grind the wheat. Hope you manage to find something to use.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice when things you don't expect pop up in the garden, we've had red poppies this year too instead of the more normal pink and mauve ones which usually come up in the potato bed:)
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