I Grew This Wheat!
The heirloom Red Fife Wheat I grew in my backyard
The Third Plate
I became interested in the idea of growing wheat after reading chef Dan Barber’s book The Third Plate which detailed the movement in America to revive ancient varieties of wheat.
Around the same time I also read chef Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir which included an account of her incredible Italian mother-in-law who grew her own wheat field next to her house in southern Italy. These planted the seed that wheat could be a backyard crop to experiment with.
I did some research and purchased three types of heritage wheat seeds: Red Fife, White Sonora and Emmer Wheat from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company in America. And that's where my experiment ended: the seeds languished untouched in my collection for over a year!
#Isoproject
That was until Covid came our way in March 2020. As I was planting my usual autumn veggie seeds and sweet pea flowers, I thought why not throw some wheat into the mix? It would be my lockdown #isoproject.
Nine months later, with lockdown long forgotten in Queensland, I was thrilled to see my Red Fife wheat was still going strong and ready to harvest from the metre square spot in my garden bed. Success! (The two other varieties I mention above didn’t seem to enjoy Brisbane growing conditions.)
Homegrown Harvest
Growing intricately braided heirloom wheat was surprisingly simple and I'm the perfect example that anyone can grow their own wheat at home. I planted about 90 seeds/ 3 x 30 space trays and planted it in about a 1 metre square spot in my backyard plot. That small amount equated to so much harvested wheat.
It was incredibly beautiful and proved to me that most things are simple to grow and it’s all just a matter of experimenting. Because I had no idea how to grind it into flour, I’ve enjoyed the wheat almost like a beautiful flower and used it in some table settings. Working out the processing part will be the next step. For anyone who loves baking or making sourdough, I highly recommend growing Red Fife Wheat!
