Are you thinking about growing grains?

A few years ago we started growing rice as a fun experiment and because I love eating rice.

 

After making paddies and babysitting the rice for a full growing season we found out it’s insanely difficult to process. You basically have to have a rice huller machine or you’ll spend days of your life trying to figure out how to get those little grains hulled. #notreallyworthit

 

Sesame was this past year's experimental “grain”. We grew the really pretty plants in one 20’ row in the hoop house. They grew with very little water and were very easy to harvest.

 

Processing was super easy too. Basically, just hang them over something and “open sesame “ they pop open and the seeds fall out. (There’s s little shaking too) but then you’re ready to use them.

 

We grew a sample plot of rye this past year too. It’s somewhere in the middle for ease of processing. I ended up putting the stalks into the kitchen aid and giving them a spin. Most of all the berries came out. But surprisingly the yield is kinda low for the amount of work and space it takes to grow. It definitely also loves water.