I mostly use spelt flower, but I am also interested in einkorn flower, rye flower and oats. I absolutely wanted to use old varieties believing that these have better nutrients and believing these have fewer problems with pests. It turned out to be very difficult to find seed to buy. I had found seed from different old varieties, but that was from a company in Switzerland and they do not deliver to Germany. That was a shame, since they offered a useful amount of seed. Finally I found a company in Germany which offer al sorts of things for school and kid’s. They have a set of seeds with information cards for the school garden with Einkorn, Emmer, Rye, Spelt, Wheat and Oats. The only thing is that there are only 10 grams of one variety in a packet. That is for 1 – 3 m^2 depending on the variety. So I won’t be milling any grain next year, but harvesting seed. Maybe in 2 years I will harvest enough to mill some grains to flower.
Most of the grains can / should be sown in fall, only the oats need to be sown in the spring.
I took the effort of sowing this little amount of seed by the book. Making nice and need rows and taking the recommended distances in account. If I want to sow bigger patches of grain next year I will have to find another way of doing this. I put only a thin layer of straw over the soil. The soil is improving compared to what it was in spring, but far from how I would like it to be. Luckily the grains are not so demanding when it comes to the soil. I did find some life in the soil, earthworms and other insects.
I did wanted to ad a picture of the grains that had already come up, but when we got back from our holiday the frost knocked the plantlets over.
Beautiful Chaos 