Growing grain (biodynamically)
In 1925, Clare Island had over 130 acres under grain crops, mostly oats (which a few people actually still grow here), but also rye, and even a bit of barley and wheat.
Our old friend Bernie (one of the few people on the island still growing oats for his animals) also remembers growing barley. More modestly, I had run a grain growing trials with triticale (a modern hybrid of rye and wheat) for 3 years, until the experiment came to an abrupt end when the whole crop failed, because it wasn’t sown properly, the winter before last.
I firmly believe, however, that being able to grow one’s own grain, both for animal and for human consumption, is going to become more important in years to come, as the upcoming food crisis puts more pressure on the grain supplies worldwide.
So when a mail from Michael Miklis, coordinator of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association of Ireland, popped up in my inbox last month about a grain workshop in Kilkenny, I immediatly started to work out how I could attend it. But the trip would have involved two overnight stays and two full days’ traveling, the dates didn’t really fit in my schedule, so I instead invited Michael to come and do a workshop on Clare Island. Much to my delight, he accepted the invitation and, as luck would have it, the day that suited us both happened to be a fruit in the Biodyanmic planting calendar, surely a good omen!
Although we couldn’t get anyone from the mainland interested enough to face the hassle of coming to the island on a Sunday, Michael came along on the 4th of April, bringing with him two varieties of oats and two varieties of barley for us to plant, as well as some biodynamic preparations. We sowed about 45 sqm, mostly oats, talked about sustainable farming through biodynamics, stirred and sprayed cow horn-manure (also refered to as “500″, see the picture below), and looked at options for threshing a and dehusking on a small scale.
Both the oats and the barley have now come up (inside a fence to protect them from the ducks’ voracious appetite, see picture below) and we are looking forward to harvesting them in July.
We are now looking at options for planting a much larger area with grain next year (as well as ways of implementing Michael suggestion for improving our compost heaps), but this will be for another day.
Christophe
Tags: barley, biodynamic agriculture, cereals, food self sufficiency, growing grain, oats, triticale