And Now For Something Completely Different..."

Free for all about gardening techniques, tips and questions.
Post Reply
User avatar
GoDawgs
Reactions:
Posts: 3890
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:38 am
Location: Zone 8a, Augusta GA

And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#1

Post: # 69758Unread post GoDawgs
Sun May 15, 2022 2:59 pm

Grains. Every year I grow a few "toys" in the garden and this year I wanted to experiment with some kind of grain that might could be used for emergency food and flour. So I turned to someone who has been experimenting with this kind of thing for a long time. Scott's hobby is now a seed business so I told him what I was looking for to see if he grew anything way up there in Michigan that would work way down here in Georgia. It had to withstand the summer heat and be useful with nothing more than simple threshing and winnowing. No mechanical gizmos needed.

He recommended two grains. One is a millet called Dragon's Claw (due to the shape of the seed heads) and a grain sorghum Ba Yi Qi. He said they make tasty porridge and I think he said one of the two can be ground into a flour. Anyway, I got some seeds of both and planted one 18' test row of each yesterday now that the soil is toasty so we'll see what happens.

Here's the Ba Yi Qi sorghum:
https://greatlakesstapleseeds.com/colle ... in-sorghum

...and the Dragon's Claw millet:
https://greatlakesstapleseeds.com/colle ... law-millet

This should be a fun experiment. It's different from anything I've ever done before so we'll see. I just hope the birds leave them alone!

User avatar
PlainJane
Reactions:
Posts: 2869
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 8:12 pm
Location: N. FL Zone 9A

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#2

Post: # 69760Unread post PlainJane
Sun May 15, 2022 3:17 pm

Hope it works out!
“Never try to outstubborn a cat.”
- Robert A. Heinlein

User avatar
Dawn
Reactions:
Posts: 367
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:34 pm
Location: Washington State

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#3

Post: # 69764Unread post Dawn
Sun May 15, 2022 4:19 pm

I've grown the bird seed millet, but I've never heard of the one you have, looks interesting!
Dawn
Zone 6b/7a
Central Washington State (it's a desert here)

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 5688
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#4

Post: # 69766Unread post bower
Sun May 15, 2022 4:29 pm

I'm trialing a bunch of wheats and some oats and barley this year. Will definitely want to see how your sorghum and millet do! These are sadly more likely to fail in my climate because of our tendency to frost, so I haven't tried em. Also dragging my feet on things like amaranth, quinoa and corn, which likewise are frost tender and have to be started indoors here and then planted out in the hopes of getting a long enough season.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

User avatar
GoDawgs
Reactions:
Posts: 3890
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:38 am
Location: Zone 8a, Augusta GA

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#5

Post: # 69769Unread post GoDawgs
Sun May 15, 2022 5:13 pm

@Bower , you know, I do believe I did give amaranth a try. That was ages ago and was a one-timer. It looked pretty but the seed was really small and all buggy. I sure wouldn't eat it. LOL!

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 5688
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#6

Post: # 69784Unread post bower
Sun May 15, 2022 7:51 pm

Honestly @GoDawgs I opened a packet just a few days ago and sprinkled it on a small tray, and I exclaimed "That's not food! That's useless!" because it was so tiny. :lol: And then I fired some marigold seeds on top of em and covered them with another layer of mix. :twisted: Definitely not worth growing to my mind, as a food. :roll: The little 'bird rice' that grows in my driveway is bigger than that - a lot bigger!
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

rxkeith
Reactions:
Posts: 1274
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:57 pm
Location: keweenaw peninsula

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#7

Post: # 69818Unread post rxkeith
Mon May 16, 2022 7:24 am

something that would be useful for me is being able to grow grain to feed my chickens.
organic feed is about $29.00 a 50 lb bag. we have the land to grow, 40 acres. it is under utilized right now.

maybe scott in michigan would be a good source of info?
go dawgs, can you provide a link to friend scott?


keith

User avatar
GoDawgs
Reactions:
Posts: 3890
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:38 am
Location: Zone 8a, Augusta GA

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#8

Post: # 69821Unread post GoDawgs
Mon May 16, 2022 7:56 am

@rxkeith , here's the link to Great Lakes Staple Seeds. Right now they're done with spring orders until fall seeds are ready. Just tell him what you're looking for and for what purpose and if he will be having anything that fits that, he'll tell you.

https://greatlakesstapleseeds.com/

His contact info:

"For Questions / Comments please contact us at: Seeds(@)GreatLakesStapleSeeds(.)com. Remember to remove the brackets we have in place to defeat spam from the dreaded web-bots."

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 5688
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#9

Post: # 69834Unread post bower
Mon May 16, 2022 2:53 pm

@rxkeith I too am looking into chicken feed as well as human food applications. The price of organic feed here, which is all imported from off the island, is through the roof. The last time my friend had some birds, it cost her $20 per bird in feed alone. I know we can do better than that!
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

User avatar
Cole_Robbie
Reactions:
Posts: 1496
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 11:58 pm

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#10

Post: # 69837Unread post Cole_Robbie
Mon May 16, 2022 3:37 pm

Bower wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 2:53 pm @rxkeith I too am looking into chicken feed as well as human food applications. The price of organic feed here, which is all imported from off the island, is through the roof. The last time my friend had some birds, it cost her $20 per bird in feed alone. I know we can do better than that!
I have always wanted a meal worm farm.

User avatar
wykvlvr
Reactions:
Posts: 507
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 11:36 am
Location: Southeast Wyoming

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#11

Post: # 70201Unread post wykvlvr
Sat May 21, 2022 12:23 pm

Wry grin I will be planting amaranth this year for the first time but I am growing it for the leaves not the seeds. Of course if my growing season is long enough and I like it I may be able to save seeds so I can grow it again.
Wyoming
Zone 5
Elevation : 6,063 ft
Climate : semi-arid
Avg annual rainfall = 16 inches

User avatar
GoDawgs
Reactions:
Posts: 3890
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:38 am
Location: Zone 8a, Augusta GA

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different..."

#12

Post: # 70214Unread post GoDawgs
Sat May 21, 2022 2:44 pm

Both the millet and sorghum popped up two days ago so we're off and running.

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”