Learning How Wheat is Grown With Love in Agassiz
DAY 68–When we met a farming couple in Agassiz, British Columbia, named Jim and Diane, we were reminded of everything that makes farming a life rather than a job. Picture a checkerboard of fields with snow-capped mountains rising behind, an age-silvered barn, antique machinery, 99 clucking chickens, happy grazing cows, waving fields of oats and wheat… Yes, wheat in Agassiz, just like a century ago. Jim told us he is willing to grow more, or any other crop, if he gets “commissioned” by enough consumers before the planting season. When he sold 250 kilograms of wheat to a group of us this year, we learned what it really means to know about your food from start to finish. Here’s what he had to say about it:
This is soft white spring wheat of unknown variety. The organic seed was supplied by Andrea Gunner, then at Anita’s Organic Mill in Chilliwack. We believe the seed was grown and cleaned in Creston [British Columbia]. It was planted April 1, 2007 (with a modified, formerly horse-drawn seed drill circa 1920) on land that has not seen herbicide or pesticide or artificial fertilizer for over 25 years, just manure.
The crop grew perfectly the first couple of months, but it was heavily infested with weeds when the rainy period hit. Unlike some of our other test plots, it did not lodge, though, and the bears avoided it in favour of the oat field (!). Fearing lodging and worse weather, we harvested earlier than we would have liked (Sept. 1), but a week before it became impossible to due to rain (whew). The combine is a 1958 Massey-Harris, (which lost its main drive belt in the field after finishing the wheat. Fortunately we had a spare and could finish the oats (whew). We cleaned the weedy wheat with a newly motorized 1901 Hero fanning mill, and dried the clean wheat for a week on plastic-covered hay wagons in the hot sun before packing it away as the rains hit.
According to the Canadian Grain Commission, soft white spring wheat is used for “cookies, cakes, pastry, flat breads, noodles, steamed breads, chapatis.” -ADS
