• Home
  • Furrow Archives (2009-2010)
  • Farmbedded Archives (2008)
  • Photos
THE FURROW: The online newsletter of Howell Living History Farm

Spelt: Ancient and Modern

11/16/2012

0 Comments

 
It was October 25 that Farmer Jeremy planted this year’s spelt crop. Now that electricity is back and life on the farm is starting to resume its normal routine following Hurricane Sandy, I was able to check in again with its progress. As hoped and expected, the crop is up and doing well. Its growth likely benefited from some warmer than usual November days.

Spelt is a close relative of wheat and was an important crop in Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. Spelt was introduced to the United States in about 1890, exactly the period at which Howell Farm’s historical interpretation begins. So a farmer planting spelt at Howell Farm in 1890 likely would have been considered an innovator. Or at least an experimenter.

What spelt production there was in the United States would eventually be replaced by bread wheat. Not only did wheat offer higher yields than spelt, it also proved easier to thresh. (Spelt has a closer-fitting husk.) Of late, however, spelt has been making a modest comeback, in large part because of the health food movement as well as the sustainable agriculture movement. Spelt seems to cause less problems for some people who are allergic to wheat and also requires less fertilizer to grow than wheat.

At Howell Farm, the spelt we produce will be fed to our livestock, hull included. According to Farmer Gary, having that hull around the grain is actually good for horses, because it helps slow down the digestion process. The spelt, which grows taller than modern wheat, also yields a good harvest of straw, which we use for animal bedding.

References:
http://www.sharphampark.com/about-spelt/the-history-of-spelt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    The Furrow is the online newsletter of The Friends of Howell Living History Farm. We will be updating this site about once a week with crop reports and other insights into life on a horse-drawn living history farm.

    Howell Farm is owned by Mercer County and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission.

    Funding for the Howell Living History Farm Furrow is made possible in part by an operating grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. 

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.