Time for planting some wheat! The timing to plant is based on achieving warm enough soil temperature, soil that is dry enough from winter moisture (not an issue this year), and before the typical "April large moisture event", whether that would be rain or snow! Fuel cost is an issue. The fix for that is to throttle back to reduce fuel burn from around 8 to 6.5 or 7 gallons of diesel per hour. Also inter-seeding the wheat with a small amount flax. 200 bushels of flaxseed which should yield 800 gallons of bio-diesel. Now, to find an oil-seed press...



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 We have two new certified organic wheat varieties available. Glenn is a modern hard red "long-time favorite with bakers for its excellent milling/baking qualities, and high protein and test weight", and in fact ours did test at 15.4% protein (highest of any we have), and gluten index of 89.07. For reference, KSU Wheat Lab has provided us with a typical gluten index of 92.7 for commercial bread flour, and our Spelt and Red Fife tested at 67.2 and 68.8. Field Blend was planted as Einkorn but ended up with a lot of volunteer wheat in the mix. An accidental mix that was created right in the field, however a recent farm tour group rated the flavor of bread from the Field Blend as much better than that of the Glenn. Starting to see a pattern over the past few years - older wheat varieties tend to have better flavor - at least in bread. Field Blend tested at 14.1% protein with gluten index of 74.16. For those with some gluten sensitivity and looking for flavor, Field Blend (o...
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 White Sonora and Clark's Cream are the nearest that we offer to all purpose flour. If your family is not too excited about bread from whole wheat flour, White Sonora might be a good one to try! Mild flavor as opposed to the more robust flavor of Red Fife for example. Sifting/removal of some of the bran can provide an even lighter texture. Oh, and it's on sale, 30% off most White Sonora items. Some history - White Sonora is one of the oldest wheat varieties in North America. Documented to exist near Sonora, Mexico in the 1700s but likely predates that time. The predominant wheat in California in the early and mid 1800s, was used by Norman Borlaug for the Sonora 64 semi-dwarf variety, which was one of the first Green Revolution wheats. Unfortunately, Sonora 64 led to the demise of Sonora Wheat.  White Sonora Soda Bread pictured below.  Pottery by very talented daughter Emily. Mud and Sage Ceramics, @mudandsage
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The winter wheat, (Spelt, Clark's Cream, Red Fife) still has some color despite several days of temperatures in the teens and some single digits overnight. Thankful for a good start to this crop, for a couple of days off with family, and for so many other blessings.
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