From Winter Wheat to Loaf of Bread to Bread of Heaven

Growing wheat and baking bread is not something many folk these days know much about. We are no exception. In fact things around our "wheat field" have been rather comical. But we have grown our first batch and now are learning how to thresh, winnow, grind and bake. Based on the article below, processing next years winter wheat will be a whole lot better informed, visual (think "shocks") and fun. Read below how easy it is to grow and harvest your own wheat even as you expand your vocabulary. We're learning it's healthier and we're anticipating a loaf of bread sitting on top of the altar table soon in affirmation that "one cannot live by bread alone."

Freshly ground wheat flour has a high vitamin content; vitamins that degrade all too quickly when exposed to the air. The whole grain flour that we buy from stores is often quite stale and may have significantly reduced vitamin content when compared to freshly ground.

Grow Your Own Wheat (taken from breadinfo.com)

"Planting a plot approximately 10 feet by 10 feet will, when all is said and done, yield between 10 and 25 loaves of bread. To begin, choose the type of wheat you wish to plant. In the United States two varieties are grown, white and red. Red wheat is more common. Red wheat also produces bread with a much more intense flavor. Consider the advantages of growing winter wheat as opposed to spring variety.

Winter wheat can be planted from late-September to mid-October. It is the preferred variety because it tends to be more nutritious than spring wheat, protects the soil in the winter, and has less competition from the weeds in spring. Try to plant early enough to get a good root system growing before winter dormancy sets in, but not so early that flies and pests become a problem. Spring wheat is planted in early spring and is most commonly found in the northern reaches of the country where the intensely cold winters create problems for winter wheat.

Finding a source for seeds can be a problem...You can find wheat seed at your local natural food stores. The grain in the bins may be planted as well as eaten, just be sure you know whether you are getting winter or spring wheat so that you plant in the proper season.

Try to plant the seed on good rich soil. The ground should be relatively even. There are three methods of planting, one is the time honored broadcast method in which 3 ounces or so of seed is "sprinkled" over the garden bed for every 100 square feet. This is about 1 seed for every square inch. Planting density is largely dependent on the richness and moistness of the soil. More wheat per square feet will absorb more nutrients and moisture. Be sure to rake the patch to cover the seed and protect it from hungry birds. Another method, called drilling, creates a hole about every six inches and plants several seeds per hole. The plants come up in a bunch but spread out over the bare area. This method allows for weeding when the plants are young, but is more labor intensive. Similarly, tight packed rows (about 6 inches apart) can be made in the soil and the wheat seed spread up and down the rows in the manner of beets and or carrots.

Harvest, Thresh and Winnow Your Wheat

Wheat harvest usually occurs in June when the wheat begins to turn a golden color but still has a few streaks of green. Using a scythe or some other sharp blade, mow down the stalks then tie them into bundles, standing them upright in the garden patch. Then allow the grain to fully ripen into a golden color.

Twine could be used to tie the bundles, but the traditional method is to take about an inch thick bunch of stems. Tie the lower end, binding the stalks together. Then wrap them around the bundle tying the head and foot of the stalks at about the middle of the bundle, creating a shock.

Keep the heads dry, then thresh and winnow at your leisure. The simplest form of threshing involves grasping a quantity of ripe wheat in one hand and beating it around the inside of a barrel. the grain falls off the stalks and the stalks are discarded or composted.

Winnowing is the process of separating the wheat from the chaff and small bits of straw. Since time immemorial this has been done by pouring the wheat from one container to another in a stiff breeze. The breeze blows away the chaff and the resulting wheat is as pure a product as you may easily produce. Absent a stiff breeze, a fan may be used.

Your wheat is now ready for storage. Wheat may be stored in barrels, bags, or what-have-you. The basic requirements are that the space be cool, dry and pest-free ( think rodent and bug).

Grind it
Throw some in a [10-speed] blender or food processor and grind to flour consistency.

Start with a half cup of whole grain. Turn the blender up to its highest speed. If the blender seems to bog down, stop and reduce the amount of grain. Add a larger amount for the next batch if the blender handled the original half cup sufficiently. Continue to grind the grains until they reach the consistency desired. Grind the grain in batches until the desired amount is achieved.

Pick you favorite pasta, pancake, bread, cookie or muffin recipe and start baking!

First the blade then the ear then the full grain in the ear.

Body: They began as little green shoots before the first snows of winter '08 fell. As spring '09 debuted, these same infant sprouts reached for the sun, each growing with the seasons and the steady circling of the earth round the sun - fall, winter, spring. And then came summer, and the green ears, full and promising, matured into "amber waves of grain." Now fall cycles back, one year of holy history later, and each head of grain, harvested, lies in a box ready to be threshed in preparation for Lana, our church baker's, skillful hand.

Maturing, it strikes me, takes time. Fall planting is three seasons from late summer's harvest; a loaf of bread is almost a year from the sowing of seed. But with patience and tending and an element of faith, comes the bread to nourish body and give flesh-and-blood life. Perhaps we'll have enough flour for our two fall festivals this year which celebrate the gift of God's good earth - Salmon Sunday during the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival and Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday during the Autumn Leaf Festival. Bread goes well with both the salmon from our rivers and the fruit and veggies from our valleys.

Soul: "Spirit" has intersected with "body" in a marvelous way lately at Community United Methodist Church. The wheat in the garden has been maturing and harvested, moving us towards that communion loaf representing the body of Christ, even as our lectionary groups have considered John 6:35, where Jesus says "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." How important these weekly small groups have become for us that we might regularly feast of Christ Jesus through encounter with the Word, so to become more like him.