I have been trying to find out in our area what are wheat fields and what are barley fields. I think I have that figured out, but I asked an Amish friend on Tuesday, if his family ever tried to use the wheat from their fields to make their own flour and then try it to make bread or pizza. My Amish friend said no, they never tried that. The Amish friend I asked lives about an 1 ½ hrs. from me. I asked him if I found a farmer in my area that was willing to let me cut some wheat, if I could then thresh the wheat to get the chaff off, then grind the wheat berries in my little Cuisinart spice and nut grinder to make some flour to try for one pizza to see what would happen. He told me the easiest thing to do was watch for a combine to be cutting down the wheat and then ask for a bucket to try. He said usually a combine driver will give someone a bucket. The wheat in our area is winter wheat and it is soon ready to be harvested. My Amish friend said combines should start cutting the wheat fields around July 4th. I now need to watch for where the combines will be, because there are many fields or either wheat or barley near where I live. Barley is usually harvested first.
I have no idea it will work or not, or even if I exactly know when a combine is cutting wheat.
In this link it explains how combines harvest wheat. http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howcombineharvesterswork.html
I don’t know if I should try watching for the combines or should just try to get a farmer to sell me wheat right from the field and cut it down myself and do the threshing.
This is only website where I looked at how to make flour from wheat.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Flour
Since my Amish friend told me Tuesday that combines would soon be coming though the my area and might give me a bag of already threshed wheat, I went out looking today, to see if any combines were near me. I first stopped at a roadside stand to pick up some fresh tomatoes and saw they had wheat fields, so I asked the girl behind the roadside stand, if her father grew the wheat near their home. She said yes. Her father wasn’t around, but she took my number for her father to call me about if I could purchase some wheat that already went though the combine.
I drove down another little side road and saw a combine must have just gone though that field. I stopped because I saw fire trucks coming. I then pulled over into a little parking lot of another farm. It seems like the machine that bails the straw (after the combine comes though, caught the small pieces of straw stems on the ground on fire). I watched that action for a little while and then walked down to where I thought the farmer might be. I talked to another farmer and he said he was there to buy the straw, for bedding and other things. I asked him if he knew where the combine had gone next. He said the combine had gone down to the next farm to cut the wheat. I went down to the next farm and sure enough, the combine was there. I looked for the farmer, but couldn’t find him, so I walked over to where the combine was loading the grain on a truck. I talked to the one combine driver and about purchasing some fresh grain and he said I would have to talk to the farmer, but the combine driver said he would gladly give me a bag of fresh cut grain if the farmer said it was okay. I searched for the farmer and finally found him at another barn on his property. Little did I know what a pain he would be..lol I asked him if he was the farmer that owned the land and he said, yes. I asked him if I could purchase a bag of the fresh cut grain. He said he wouldn’t sell me any. He then asked me if I had interrupted the combine drivers, and I said yes, but they weren’t cutting grain, but were just sitting in the combine transferring grain. He then went on this big rant of how much he pays the combine drivers to cut his wheat (160.00 an hr.) I said I didn’t think I had disturbed the drivers, since they were just sitting in the combine talking. The farmer then went on another big rant about to getting off his farm property and never to come back again. Whew!! I did buy things from their roadside stand many times, but I won’t be buying anything there anymore. I told him I never thought he would get so upset about me just asking questions. That was enough of that. I will watch again to see what farm the combine might be going to, or might try to buy some wheat right from the field. I don’t know if I will be successful or not, but I will try.
Well, I continued my adventure later this afternoon by walking out a back road from where I live. I wanted to see if the fields out there had barley or wheat in the fields. The first field, I think was barley that was planted. I then passed that farm house and had thought about talking to the farmer that live there, but no one was home. I then continued out the road until I came upon another field. I think the field had wheat planted. At least it looked that way to me. I picked a few to take home to compare my other wheat to. I then walked further out the road and there were some more wheat fields. I didn’t get to talk to anymore farmers about if I can purchase some wheat, but might in the next few days. I did see at the one farm where a White Oak Mills truck was parked.
The girl from the roadside stand called me this evening and said she had talked to her father about me purchasing some of their wheat when the combine comes. She said her father told her his wheat isn’t the best this year because all the rain and it might not make good flour because of a mold problem. She said her father gave her another farmers name to give to me, that might be willing to sell me some of his good wheat. I asked the farmers name and phone number, and then asked where the farmer lived. Here is was the same farmer that gave me a hard time today. I told the girl I already was at that farm today and the farmer wouldn’t sell me any wheat from the combine. The asked the girl if her father has any other farmers names that might be willing to sell me wheat, to call me again.
So the journey for some wheat continues...... I would think it would be easy to get some wheat to try in my area, but it might not be. Only time will tell.
More pictures of wheat fields out the road from where I live, Two of the pictures are of a barley field and barley. At least that is what I think they are. At least I had a nice walk looking for wheat.
Norma
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