
Barley is an easy crop. It is not strange to think of hops in a garden since it is ordinarily grown commercially. Barley is a great plant that can be used in small settings, just like hops. A homebrewer can get a lot of satisfaction out of growing even a small amount of his own barley. Barley is a fast-growing, attractive plant that has many uses. There is nothing quite as satisfying as giving someone a homebrew and mentioning that you also grew the barley.
Malting barley comes in two varieties, two-row and six-row. This refers to the amount of grain in each row on the barley head. It has pretty significant consequences for beer. Six-row barley typically has smaller grains, less starch, and more enzymes than two-row barley. The barley stiff is commonly used in American-style high-adjunct beers to convert unmalted starches (such as corn and rice) into fermentable sugars. The two-row variety of barley is plumper and starchier than other varieties, making it better suited for brewing all-malt beers.
Six-row barley varieties often grow best in parts of the country, especially on the East Coast. The Midwest mostly grows six-row. Commercial two-row production is limited to climates that are not too hot or cold. More and more two-row barley is being grown around North America as new cultivars are introduced to replace old standbys like Klages and Harrington.
Types of Barley
Hundreds of different barley seeds are available for purchase today. The term two-row and six-row barley refers to the number of rows of kernels on the barley plant. Two-row barley has two rows of kernels, while six-row barley has six rows of kernels. The two-row barley has two rows of kernels while the six-row barleys have six rows of kernels.
Two-row barley is typically used for brewing beer because it has a more robust flavor and higher yields. This is attributed to the lower enzyme and protein content, as well as the higher starch content. The six-row barley plant has higher levels of protein and carbohydrates than other varieties of barley, making it a better choice as a food source.
Two popular cultivars are the six-row Robust Barley because it is high-yielding with plump kernels and is resistant to stem blotch and stem rust. Pinnacle is a two-row variety that has high yields, large kernels, and strong stems. It matures a little later but is still a great option.
Getting the Ground Ready
The amount of your garden you want to turn over to barley is entirely up to you. We always favor starting small with any new project. You should grow enough to make it worth your while, so shoot for at least the equivalent of 100 square feet, which may yield you 5 to 15 pounds of grain. You will have a lot of grain to use for experiments.
Barley grows best in a fine seedbed, loamy soil, and with plenty of sunlight. It prefers soil that is neutral or slightly alkaline. If you have doubts, get your soil professionally tested. It should be 6.0 or higher. If not, amend the site with lime. It is ideal to do this the fall before you plant. You can also add some compost or well-rotted manure to your garden.
Although barley can grow in poor quality soils, it benefits from phosphorus and potassium. Using rock phosphate and greensand will help improve the nutrients in the soil, but they won't have an immediate effect. If there is too much nitrogen in the soil, the protein levels in the seeds will be too high and the malting process will be of poor quality. This problem will only really affect people who use a lot of chemical fertilizers.
Prepare the soil in the barley plot as soon as you can get to it in the spring. Now you are ready for planting.
Planting the Seeds
The best time to plant is spring, when the ground can be worked. This is also the time to plant peas. The harvest around here will be in late July and that means the end of April. The cycle begins in the spring and continues into early summer, which is the preferred time for barley growth.
Barley is planted at a rate of 60 to 90 pounds per acre, which means that about half a pound to three quarters of a pound is planted per 10×10 foot plot. To calculate how much you will need, pace off the area and do the math. To calculate the square footage of your plot, multiply the length by the width. Then, divide that number by 100. If you have a large plot of land, use 3 pounds of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet.
The easiest way to plant grain is to scatter it on the ground. To create a pleasant pattern while spreading grain, use a large coffee can and twirl your fingers. You are aiming for about one kernel per inch. This is a cheap and efficient method called broadcasting. We still plant this way sometimes. It's more fun than usual to have a group of people spread out across a field every ten feet or so, each of them with a bag of grain, trying to outdo each other. We also use a broadcast seeder, which allows us to spread seeds in a wide area by throwing them into the air with a hand-crank.
Once you have seeded your lawn, it is a good idea to rake the seeds in, so that they have better contact with the soil, and are covered so that the birds cannot find them.
Sun and Temperature
Barley needs full sun to grow, which is at least 6 hours of sunlight each day. The USDA specifies that zones 3-8 are ideal for growing the chosen plant. However, you can still find a variety that will do well in your climate and the time of year you plan to plant it.
The optimum temperature for growing barley is 55F, although this can vary depending on the type of barley you are growing. If you want to get better yields for this cool-season crop, you should plant it during the early spring or fall in warmer areas.
If you want to harvest your barley before the first frost, you need to plant it in the spring. Although winter barley is not as hardy as winter wheat and rye, it is still able to survive in colder climates. Barley will grow well in zone 8 or warmer when planted between September and February before temperatures rise above 85F.
Water and Humidity
Do not let the ground dry out completely until the seeds have germinated, then water to keep the ground slightly moist. The amount of water you need will be determined by how hot it is and how much moisture is in the air. Warmer temperatures will require frequent irrigation. If the temperature decreases, the demand for water will also decrease because barley does not like to be excessively wet.
Other types of irrigation will work for watering barley plants. Many farmers find that sprinklers are the easiest way to water their larger crops, although this method increases the chance of developing fungal diseases.
Fertilizing
Barley does not require a high amount of fertilization. If you give the plant too much fertilizer, it will produce more vegetation and fewer seeds. Before adding fertilizer to your garden, it's a good idea to test the soil to see if the plants need extra nutrients.
Even though barley only needs a small amount of potassium and phosphorus, it still needs less nitrogen. If your soil is nutrient deficient, you can supplement it by adding fertilizer at the start of the growing season. If you have a healthy and thriving garden, then it will be able to support this crop.
Pruning/Training
Pruning is not necessary for barley, but you can postpone flowering by mowing the crop. Without the seed head, the plant will need time to grow another one. If you want to use the crop to add nutrients to the soil, cut the plants down before they produce seeds. Otherwise, the seeds will sprout and grow new plants later on.
Weeds
Weeds are the bane of any grain crop. It is hard to keep weeds from growing next to grain plants when the grain has been broadcast instead of planted in a line. By the time the plants are large enough to pull out by the roots, the damage is already done. Weeds are problematic for farmers because they compete with crops for water, nutrients, and space. They also make harvest time more difficult. Not only do they affect the current crop, but they will also spread their seeds to the next one.
Weeds are commonly controlled with herbicides on commercial grain farms. Organic farmers use methods such as flame weeders, crop rotations, and aggressive cover cropping to kill weeds, instead of relying on synthetic pesticides. There are also specialized mechanical cultivators that are designed to work on grain crops. As you can probably tell, these options are not likely to be useful to you. If barley is given the opportunity, it will grow more than most weeds.
Brad Hunter, a homebrewer from Appleton, Maine, uses different strategies to prevent weeds on his raised barley beds. ” He says that during his first year, he sowed with a heavy hand. I took an aggressive approach with the barley, hoping that it would grow quickly and densely enough to choke out the weeds. Although this method was effective to an extent, I was still having issues with weeds, and it was tough to get rid of them by hoeing or pulling them by hand because of how tightly packed they were.
The next year he planted four different kinds of plants in two rows that were six inches apart. He planted each kind of plant by hand in its own row. This design and spacing allowed for more effective weeding by hand and with a hoe. Brad found that his crop was less likely to fall over when planted the second way.
Pests and Diseases
We've had few problems with diseases or pests in our barley crops. There are approximately six significant barley diseases, the most severe being smut. If you want to have a successful garden, you should rotate your crops frequently, feed your soil, and watch the pH. If you think your barley might be sick, reach out to your local agricultural extension office for help.
On the other hand, birds may drive you nuts. In our area, the reintroduced wild turkeys love grain and sometimes come in groups of 40, including babies, adult females, and males as big as armchairs. They can store a lot of grain in a short amount of time and they don't stop working. Shouting and waving your arms is usually effective – as is a dog that doesn't like turkeys.
Irrigation
We mainly grow the Robust variety, which is resistant to drought. This is generally true of six-row types. Unless it is spring and very dry, you will not have to water the plants. Two-row types generally need more water, especially when the heads are emerging and the kernels need to plump out. Most two-row barley is grown in irrigated plantations. Water plays an important role in determining the protein levels of barley crops grown during dry seasons.
Harvesting
The grain is ready to harvest when it comes off easily from the head. If you plant a barley variety that doesn't have a hull, the hull will fall off easily. Cut lots of stalks near the bottom of the plant using a hand trimmer or sickle. After the barley is fully dry, remove the heads and thresh the barley by pounding it with a stick. To thresh the barley, bundle the heads together and pound them with a stick until the kernels fall out. Put the seed heads in a pillowcase when they're dry. Use a soft mallet to hit the heads and release the barley kernels. This is also known as threshing.
Threshing
Beating the grains off the straw with some kind of tool is threshing. Some barley varieties are better suited for threshing than others, and the grain is easier to thresh when it is riper. A flail is a tool that is traditionally used and can easily be made by anyone. All you need are two sticks that are 1-1/4 inches in diameter, a long one for the handle and a shorter one for the flail.
Drill a hole through each stick near one end. Tie the laces of the boots together with a strong, new loop. We use a large, heavy piece of army canvas for our threshing floor. After cutting the wheat, we spread it on the ground and then use a tool called a flail to remove the wheat kernels from the rest of the plant.
Most people hit the ball over their head to hit it into the other person's court. A more gentle way to use a flail is to hold the handle with both hands and spin the flail section around quickly. This way you hit the grain lightly each time. A plastic baseball bat can also be used as a flail. I've also heard of people using a clean garbage can as a threshing machine. Tap the sheath on the edge of the can so the heads come loose and fall into the can. Brad uses a broom and a sheet of plastic to clean the grain, and then uses a fan to get rid of the chaff. select a day when it is windy to do this activity or use a fan to blow the awns, husks, and bits of straw away
Storing
Place the grains in an airtight container and store in a cool, dry spot for up to 6-8 months. You can also store them in freezer bags in the freezer. They will last for at least a year this way.
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