SHTF and Grains

[Wifezilla]

I am so glad the quinoa worked for you

As for what to do next, mine didn't grow due to a silly neighbor and some round up, so I am just going by what I read.

Cut the tops and leave a bit of stem. Put them upsidedown inside a paper bag and put it somewhere to dry. Before eating, you do have to soak and rinse because of the natural soap coating on the seeds.

 

[sunsaver]

WZ, i just noticed that you quote TP in your signature. For some reason i find this very impressive, but i guess im too old to remember exactly why. The age of reason? Premature maturity? Evidence of a brain? Something to do with philosophy class or Socrates?
I have an advanced degree in post apocalypse survival technology. Sure hope i never get a job. The end is never as much fun as the beginning.

 

[Wifezilla]

I hope none of us have to do that post apocalyptic externship.

 

[hiker]

I fear that if the fools in DC don't get their act together, we all may be finding out sooner rather than later.

 

[Kingsfarm]

I may be able to buy a barrell of wheat from a farmer... he says it wont last if not dried properly...how do I do this???? Help...love this forum

 

[~gd]

Actually I think there are many battles over hemp here right now, lol. The only hemp product I've ever consumed was hemp milk, which was absolutely dreadful.

I have a friend though who makes hemp cord bracelets.

Hemp is one of the few seeds that I would like to have put away in case SHTF. The problem is that hemp is the same as pot and our government is Paranoid on the stuff and insists it is a drug (think the Australian government feels the same) During WWII the goverment promoted the growth of Hemp for cordage (ropes) and for the seeds for oil. I suspect the hemp milk was an emulsion made from the oil. and the taste would be bad (how do I know because Cod Liver oil also became scarce during the war and hemp oil was used instead, for my money Hemp oil tastes much better than Cod Liver oil) Why take it? because many foods were in short supply and 15 mL of hemp oil would provide the daily requirement of all the ensential fatty acids( these are the ones that the human body can not make for itself. To keep children supplied during their growing years it was forced down our thoats.
A lot of breeding has been done on hemp the potheads wanted more THC active ingredient to get high on, the farmers were trying to decrease THC content to keep it as a fiber and oil plant. Canada has managed to produce a low THC strain which is the source of Hemp for fiber and oil. Someday the American government may become educated enough to allow the legal growth but I doubt it.

 

[Boogity]

Here's something interesting that I just learned a few days ago.

Back in posts #6 through #10 (somewhere in that area) there was some talk about pollination and methods. Well, I have met a lady at our farmer's market who lives down the road from me. She was introduced to me by a friend who is also into heirloom plants seeds as I am. This woman actually uses an engine powered leaf blower to induce pollination in her sweet corn, feed corn, broom corn, and sorghum. She said she has a Stihl lawn leaf blower and when the time is right she blasts the tops (tassels I suppose) of the plants and causes the pollen to float to the other plants. Kind of weird to me but it sure shows some ingenuity on her part. She claims the it has greatly improved the pollination of her plants.