Recent content by drummstikk

Hi all -- It's been a while. I never did achieve 100% homegrown but many of you have! :) Thanks for keeping this thread alive and passionately pursuing homegrown grains. We are a small subset of a relatively large hobby -- I wonder how many beer farmers there are out there? I've since graduated...

Indeed, there is nothing "Belgian" about the yeast and bacteria found in lambic. Have you seen Cantillon? It's in a dirty Brussels suburb with trash on the street. Likewise, I imagine there is nothing particularly "Korean" about traditional nuruk. I bet you can entirely recreate it with the...

Ok, it seems like you are reconstituting a nuruk from pure cultures? That seems like it would work, for sure. But is it really nuruk? Korean nuruk is not inoculated with any cultured microorganisms. Everything comes from the wheat, water, straw, and the fermentation chamber (which likely...

Looks like OP is gone? I tried making nuruk a while back. One problem I encountered was controlling humidity. Uncovered in coastal California weather (40-55% humidity), no fungus will grow. Yet, enclosing the fermenting nuruk in a plastic box (100% humidity) allows a lot of fungal growth with...

Pretty cool! Anything that limits growth should limit lodging. I bet the lawn planting limited growth through increased competition, or perhaps limited root development. It's a great result. Will be excited to see how the yield compares with commercial (plowed) yields.

My efforts are beginning to pay off in recovering after the fencing company destroyed my previous crop. Two-leaf bere seedlings are coming up nicely. I added some seeds to areas that didn't receive enough, either through my own error when planting or through failure to germinate or...

Awesome.

I'm sorry to hear it! Lodging is so deflating -- you watch with pride all season as your little plants grow big and tall, then they just get knocked down. In the past, I still got a great harvest from my lodged areas. There's not much you can do about it, so don't worry! The buckwheat...

Googling reveals: The most serious source of exposure to soil lead is through direct ingestion (eating) of contaminated soil or dust. In general, plants do not absorb or accumulate lead.

Yes, and competition between roots for nutrients and space might affect your seedlings too. Most of these crops we grow are not selected to compete in an ecosystem. People deride "monoculture," but it's been this way since the beginning of farming.

Landlord replaced the fence in my backyard over the weekend while I was out of town. The crew ransacked my yard. And they killed my crop and even covered it up with dirt. The plants that were left standing had many of their filling grains knocked out. Why would they go out of...

Oh good idea! One explanation is that if the top layer of soil never dries out, the plants grow shallow roots, then fall over. Also encouraging vegetative growth during the jointing phase (due to high nitrogen, other factors?) can lead to lodging. Right, each seed you plant yields fewer...

Yeast and bacteria do not travel very well on wind (though it is possible), but mold spores are specialists in wind travel. If you put out near-sterile jars and prevented insects from entering, your jars likely ended up with a lot of mold spores but little bacteria or yeast. Most people here...

5 leaves with 2 tillers on the Conlon. Leaves of main plant are labeled 1-5 Tillers are T1, T2 Tiller leaves are T1-1, T1-2, etc.

Woo hoo! I finally have a back yard. It's not big, only 50 square feet, but it'll do. Oh it'll do. Removed landscaping stones (who would ever cover up arable land when there's thirsty throats to quench?) and mixed a cubic foot of steer manure into the top layer of soil. Planted Copeland at...