Growing Everything?

I have enough acreage to grow hops, barley, wheat and all the essentials for a family of four. What I'm curious about is how difficult is it to grow the essentials. I have read that hops are easy, however, since they are in the cannabis family, do they attract unwanted visitors? I have also read that to malt barley, it blows my mind to think about wetting it down, letting it sprout and all that. Is there anyone in here that grows all of it and makes it without a store?

PS. I have sourdough starter from 1865 just to let ya know I'm serious, just scared I guess.

I would love to be able to grow my own barley. I have been joking with people lately that this year I'm growing hops and next year I'll put in my barley field. With a .25 acre lot I dont thinks that's gonna happen though

As for the "unwanted visitors" and the hops plants...I dont think there's anything to worry about. I've seen both plants growing and they dont look similar when growing. The cones are VERY similar in appearance, though. I'm guessing that's your concern, people thinking you're growing cannabis and coming to steal it? I wouldn't worry too much about it.

The big problem with barley is harvesting. I haven't seen (nor have I look too hard) an easy way to harvest in an efficient manner.

I would go with hops and wheat....this keeps it simple. Buy your barley
Much of the stuff you probably already grow (etc. corn) you can use to brew with too

They have been harvesting barley for what, 4000 years now? There is a lot of good information concerning "growing beer" in the "Homebrewers Garden" the book is really geared for small scale scratch brewing. I think that you will be fine, a bit of diligence and you will make it.
-Ander

anderj said:

They have been harvesting barley for what, 4000 years now? There is a lot of good information concerning "growing beer" in the "Homebrewers Garden" the book is really geared for small scale scratch brewing. I think that you will be fine, a bit of diligence and you will make it.
-Ander

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I just got that book and so far so good. To quote the author " one crop of barley on an average garden plot can produce the grain ingredients for up to 5 batches of all-grain beer, or thirty or more batches of extract or partial mash."
It sounds easy to grow.

I just purchased 4 rhizomes to give it a shot. I have a second story deck with a flower bed below. It faces south so I'm going to run the string to the railing. Should be about 15 feet to the top of the railing and I figure it should make picking the cones easy. I'll keep ya posted throughout the summer.

SOB said:

As for the "unwanted visitors" and the hops plants...I dont think there's anything to worry about. I've seen both plants growing and they dont look similar when growing. The cones are VERY similar in appearance, though. I'm guessing that's your concern, people thinking you're growing cannabis and coming to steal it? I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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Any pothead will know the difference. Other than bugs which can tend to be a problem, you shouldn't have to worry about unwanted visitors. Despite being from the same family, they DO NOT smell even remotely the same...oh and be careful if you have dogs, because hops are lethal.

HBHoss said:

I just got that book and so far so good. To quote the author " one crop of barley on an average garden plot can produce the grain ingredients for up to 5 batches of all-grain beer, or thirty or more batches of extract or partial mash."
It sounds easy to grow.

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This is quite comforting because im getting ready to try and grow barley but i don't know much about it. a completely "homegrown homebrew" is a really nice though. I will aim for that as the pinnacle of my homebrewing career.

if you have dogs, because hops are lethal.

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NO

If you brew much, growing and malting enough barley will take serious space and time.

hops toxicity in dogs:
Hop Toxicity in Dogs
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/so-hops-fatal-dogs-what-about-other-household-pets-61575/

It was on the kit, don't let the dogs touch the even the spent trub. Evidently its bad and I will keep all 3 Boston Terriers away from it.

The homegrown idea sounds awsome. I just planted my 7 hops today, but I don't think I could ever do barley. I could not imagine the time it would take to remove the grains from the stems, and then malt and kiln it.

Do we really need to turn another thread into the dog thing again. Hops can be dangerous too dogs, chances are the dog will be fine, but some wont. I agree though, why risk it.

Chris Colby of BYO is harvesting his barley right now. I'm sure there will be an article in BYO at some point. Maybe he's blogging it. I follow him on twitter and so I've seen the pics.

http://twitpic.com/3q9sd
via
http://twitter.com/colbybrewery

they DO NOT smell even remotely the same

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I wouldn't say that. They can smell VERY similar depending on quality and variety of each. Nice and spicy/herbal or citruslike and fruity. I definately know the difference, but also see/smell the similarities. I keep my dog away from both.

My initial fear, I guess, is that the Indiana State Police run a helicopter along the railroad tracks behind my property low and slow and I don't want retards thinkin its something else from the air and have 20 cars on my property wonderin what I'm growing. Look through the second story sliding glass window and you'll see tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and 4 varieties of tobacco growing along with the hop additions going in the ground this weekend.......Somebody say Alcohol, tobacco, firearms. "got the gun too". ATF should be convenience store, not a government agency. I was just curious about it being related to cannabis cuz other than the internet, I have no idea what a pot plant looks like. Unless it grows in a ziploc bag.

The plants look VERY different, and in my opinion they have aromas that are "reminiscant" of each other. Not to close but similar at least.
-Ander