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WHEAT
– Most of my wheat collection is older varieties plus a couple of more recent ones that are recommended for wheat weaving. They generally grow 3′ – 4′ tall and mature easily. They range from the Triticum monococcum varieties, which date back to the beginning of civilization, to the products of Canada’s wheat breeding program this past century (with date of introduction in brackets following the name). Wheats are all very decorative but Utrecht Blue, the three Triticum monococcums, Polish, Vavilovii and Emmer would be especially attractive in dried arrangements. If you are thinking of growing your own wheat for eating, Spelt, Emmer, Utrecht Blue, and Triticum monococcum are very difficult to thresh by hand.
Each year I grow a part of my wheat collection at St. Peter’s Abbey and invite the public to a field day to view the wheats on the third Sunday in August. People are also welcome at other times but please contact me first. To view photographs of my wheat collection, visit the Abbey website, and go to the section called “Organics” and then to “Ancient Wheats:” www.stpetersabbey.ca
HARD RED SPRING WHEAT
(Triticum aestivum) has always been the main wheat grown on the prairies. Here is a selection of Canadian bred cultivars and ones used in early Canadian wheat breeding programs:
RED FIFE – First grown in Canada in 1843. Yield and quality are very good but this is a late variety and so risks frost damage.
EARLY RED FIFE – Selected from Red Fife in 1903, it is three days earlier than its parent.
MARQUIS (1910) – A selection from Hard Red Calcutta x Red Fife which has the quality of Red Fife and the earliness of Hard Red Calcutta. It was the main wheat grown in Western Canada in the 1920′s and 1930′s.
THATCHER (1935) – The main wheat grown on the prairies when I was growing up in the 1950′s. It was selected from a cross with Marquis.
SAUNDERS (1947) – Comes from a Thatcher cross and is two days earlier than Thatcher. It is famous as a show wheat.
PRELUDE (1913) – The earliest maturing wheat bred in Canada. It is a high protein variety. The heads have short beards.
HURON (1925) – A bearded wheat from a cross made in 1888 in Ottawa. Hardy and good yielding mid season variety that is still grown in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
LADOGA – The bearded heads, which bend over when mature, are very easy to thresh. Came to Canada from northern Russia in 1887.
HARD RED CALCUTTA – Was imported from India in the late 1800′s. It was not widely grown in Canada as it was quite variable and its milling quality is poor, but it is very early and passed this quality on to Marquis.
I also have small quantities of the following hard red spring wheats which were bred or grown in Canada. They were all the work of Agriculture Canada except Ceres, Red Bobs and Kitchener. Wheat breeding is a long process so the dates are somewhat uncertain, sometimes the year of the initial cross and sometimes when they were first grown in farmers’ fields.
BISHOP – Ladoga x Gehun, Ottawa, 1891.
STANLEY – Ladoga x Red Fife, Ottawa, 1903.
PRESTON – Ladoga x Red Fife, Ottawa, 1903.
GARNET – Preston x Riga, Ottawa, 1905. For more information about Garnet, see www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/19/garnetwheat.shtml
KITCHENER — Selection from Marquis, Seager Wheeler, Rosthern, SK, 1911.
RED BOBS – Probably Bobs x Early Red Fife, Seager Wheeler, Rosthern, SK, 1911.
CERES – Marquis x Kota, North Dakota Exp. Stn., 1918.
CANTHATCH – Thatcher x Kenya Farmer, 1959. Better rust-resistance than Thatcher.
SELKIRK – (McMurachy x Exchange) x Redman, Winnipeg, 1939.
CHINOOK – Thatcher x S 615-11. Lethbridge, 1952. Sawfly resistant.
RESCUE – Apex x S 615. Swift Current, 1946. Stem rust and sawfly resistant.
CANUS – Marquis x Kanred – U. of Minn, 1918. Selected at U. of Alta. 1929.
REWARD – Marquis x Prelude. Ottawa 1912. Licensed in 1928.
RELIANCE – Kanred xMarquis. Cross made by USDA, 1917. Registered in Canada in 1932.
RUBY – Downy Gehun x Onega –>Downy Riga WT Macoun 1891. Downy Riga x Red Fife –> Ruby CE Saunders 1905.
PARK – Early maturing cultivar from a Thatcher cross, 1963.
DWARF INDIAN
(T. sphaerococcum) – Short and very upright. The heads are rather short and look like bottle brushes. The kernels are plump and almost round.
CLUB WHEAT
(T. compactum) – Widely grown for food before common bread wheat dominated wheat growing. The heads and beards are short, the yield is good, and it threshes easily, producing plump blond kernels.
POLISH WHEAT
(T. polonicum) – Has large bearded seed heads. The seeds are long and about twice the size of ordinary wheat.
DURUM WHEAT
(T. durum) – Has seeds a bit larger than bread wheat. It is used in the production of pasta and is also the preferred wheat for wheat weaving.
PELISSIER came to the USA from Algeria in 1900. In 1921 a selection was made at U. of SK which was registered in 1936. A drought resistant cultivar with black beards. Known in the USA as Peliss. I have mistakenly offered this cultivar as Palliser.
WAKOOMA – Lakota x Pelissier, 1973.
MEDORA – Ward x Macoun, 1982. Blond beards.
I received two samples of decorative wheat and they grew well here. Although they are probably named varieties, I do not know their names.
BLACK has long (4″-5″) black heads and beards.
TAN/BLUE has short plump heads, tan with metallic blue highlights and beards.
VAVILOV WHEAT
(T. vavilovii) – Named after the great Russian plant scientist and collector. This old wheat has a very irregular seed head and is somewhat difficult to thresh.
RIVET or POULARD WHEAT
(T. turgidum) – An old wheat species with large blond grains that are used in the production of pasta.
RIVET (T. turgidum) is similar in appearance to Vavilovii except that the heads are bearded.
POULARD (T. turgidum ssp. turgidum) has plump blond heads with black beards, somewhat like durum wheat.
TIMOPHEEVI
(T. timopheevi) – An ancient grain cultivated in the Republic of Georgia. With its slender stems and flat heads, it looks like a larger, more robust T. monococcum. Also difficult to thresh.
ZHUKOVSKY
(T. zhukovskyi) – Another ancient cultivated grain from the Republic of Georgia. Heads somewhat longer than T. timopheevi.
T. PETROPAVLOVSKYI
– Has dark green plants with fairly short plump heads with long beards. Large blond seeds.
T. JACUBZINERI
– Has tall blue-grey plants that are a bit late maturing. The heads are large and slightly branched with medium beards.
T. ISPHANICUM
– Has grey-green plants with weak stems that lodge easily. The heads are slender with medium beards and the seeds are long and slender, looking more like a wheat grass than a wheat. Named after a city in Iran.
STONE AGE WHEAT
(T. monococcum) – Is most likely the earliest domesticated wheat.
BLACK EINKORN has flat black heads that are not very long and resemble the heads of crested wheat grass.
BLOND is very similar to Black Einkorn but the plants are shorter and the blond heads are also shorter.
Despite its name ALASKA SPELT is a T. monococcum, and as such resembles the 2 preceding varieties. It is the tallest of the three and has rich yellow brown seed heads.
UTRECHT BLUE
– My most decorative wheat. The blue heads with black beards bend over when mature. This variety was still grown around Utrecht (Netherlands) in the early 1900′s.
EMMER
(T. dicoccum) – tall variety with long bearded light brown seed heads that bend over when mature.
SPELT
(T. spelta) – Has long (up to 6″) slim heads which break easily. Plants and heads bend over when ripe. Although most spelts are fall seeded, this is a spring seeded variety.
TRITICALE
(Triticum X. Secale) – A cross between wheat and rye. The kernels are rather wrinkled and not as plump as those of wheat. WELSH TRITICALE (1978) was named in memory of the late Dr. John Welsh, who in 1955 performed the first wheat-rye crosses at the University of Manitoba. It has long bearded heads and is used for wheat weaving.
HULLESS OATS
(Avena sativa nuda) – TERRA has large naked kernels and is (or was) grown on a field scale on the prairies. BATON is a newer variety that is a few days later than Terra, with a bit plumper seeds. It seems to thresh out more completely than Terra. VICAR was developed in Winnipeg in the 1940′s and was the first licensed hulless oat variety in Canada. A mid season to late variety. Named after George MacVicar of Portage la Prairie. We cook the oats whole and use them as a substitute for rice.
BARLEY
(Hordeum vulgare) – I now have two hulled barleys which are short and early and have black heads. BLACK ALBERTA is a 6-row barley and BLACKHEART a 2-row barley; Blackheart has the darker beards.
HULLESS BARLEY
(Hordeum vulgare) – ETHIOPIAN has large dark brown pointed seeds. EXCELSIOR has attractive purplish bearded seed heads and purple seeds. SPECIAL MIX contains purple , grey , and blond seeded varieties.
Wheat, triticale, oats, barley 10g @ $2.50
MILLET
– PROSO MILLET (Panicum miliaceum) has heads of loose panicles of blond seeds. The small seed is used to feed birds. The heads also look good in dried arrange- -9- ments. I now have a second cultivar of proso millet which came with the name BRONZE MILLET. It is very similar to the first except for its shiny brown seeds.
5g @ $2.50
CANARY SEED
(Phalaris canariensis) – Grown on a field scale in Saskatchewan for birdseed. The compact heads on tall stems are used in dried arrangements.
Packet @ $2.50
AMARANTH
(Amaranthus sp.) – A traditional food, ornamental and dye plant. It is a domesticated variety of pigweed and a native American crop. The plants are sturdy, generally growing from 4′-8′ tall. The large leaves are green or red and the seed heads are red, yellow, brown or multicoloured. The grain varieties are grown for their heavy yield of small blond seeds which are rich in protein (16-18%). They also complement corn and wheat to make a complete protein. Sow them after danger of frost is past. When the plants have dried after a heavy frost in the fall, cut the seed heads, thresh and winnow. The seeds can be popped, sprouted, milled into flour or cooked whole. The young and tender leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach.
R158 was developed by Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Rodale Research Centre. The leaves and seed heads are mostly red. It is early and heavy yielding. POPPING AMARANTH has a large multicoloured seed head. GOLDEN AMARANTH has large golden brown seed heads on sturdy plants. BURGUNDY is a striking deep red plant over 7′ tall.
QUINOA
(Chenopodium quinoa) – The staple food of the Incas, Quinoa is grown for its seeds but can also be harvested young for its greens. It is a domesticated variety of lamb’s quarters, growing 4′-8′ tall. The seeds and seed heads vary greatly in colour. The seeds are higher in protein than cereal grains and somewhat resemble millet and sesame seeds. The seeds are covered with a bitter tasting saponin which is removed by rinsing in cold water. Cook the seeds whole (cooking time about 20 minutes) or grind into flour. Quinoa produces a heavy yield of seeds, resists frost and drought well, and tolerates poor soil. Perhaps this plant has a future as a field crop in Saskatchewan.
TEMUCO gives a good yield of small blond seeds and is the variety I have grown most often. ISLUGA YELLOW has medium-sized yellow seeds. DAVE #407 has medium yellow – brown seeds and is probably the most widely grown variety in western Canada. KCOITO has large seeds which are either purple-red or slate-grey.
POPPIES
(Papaver somniferum) – I am growing 3 edible seeded varieties. They have large flowers that fade in about 24 hours, and large seed heads. The MAUVE-FLOWERED and PINK-FLOWERED varieties have grey-blue seeds. The PERSIAN (WHITE-FLOWERED) poppy has white seeds, but they are all used similarly in poppy seed cake or on rolls.
Amaranth, Quinoa, and Poppies 1g @ $2.50
SUNFLOWERS
(Helianthus annuus) – Each year I seed a row of black-seeded RUSSIAN sunflowers in the garden and they make a lovely show. They are tall with medium-sized heads and plump seeds. Sunflowers cross easily so you will surely have some plants with black and white seeds.
10g @ $2.50
PSYLLIUM
(Plantago psyllium) – An annual growing 1′ to 2′ high and about as wide that produces a heavy seed crop. The ground seeds are consumed as a natural laxative, can be consumed as sprouts or to produce an edible oil rich in linoleic acid.
Packet @ $2.50
HERBS:
All the herbs are now found with Flowers, Seed Crops and Leaf Crops
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Hard Red Spring Wheat – 6 lbs
Hard Red Spring Wheat for milling and planting. $12.00 + $8.50 for shipping & handling