Filed under: July 2018 | Tags: baby, childbirth, granddaughter, harvest, Spelt, speltz, straw
July 9, 2018
The 2018 Speltz harvest is done. It was a good crop. This will meet the grain requirements for my horses for the next year. The straw will be clipped and baled soon as well. The weather was perfect, the combine worked great and the field was in great condition.
The crop grew well with no lodging. (Lodging is when the crop goes flat to the ground) Wind can sometimes knock the crop over, but lodging usually comes from weak stems. I am very pleased with the speltz crop, but also with the emerging hay that the speltz “nursed” through the winter. The new seeding hay is robust and doing very well.
I was busy combining the speltz, while my daughter-in-law was busy too. We welcomed a new baby girl to our family. She is sweet as ever…of course she is made from… ” sugar and spice and everything nice”!
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RicelandMeadows 
Mr. Rice – this may be too long of an answer for online, but why do you grow spelt grain instead of oats?
Comment by Rich Barker July 9, 2018 @ 11:33 pmRich, I grow spelt instead of oats for several reasons. First is the time of year for planting. Oats need to be in the ground early, late March or early April. Our soil is wet and muddy then on most years. Spelt gets planted in mid-September or early October. Our soils are warm and in great shape then. The spelt grows thick and off to an early start ahead of weeds, so no spray needed to control weeds. The spelt grows a bit taller than oats, so more straw than oats too. The protein percentage between oats and spelt is the same, both make great feed for horses. Harvest time is about the same, mid-July just after first cutting hay is done usually. Yield is also very close to the same at 80 bu. per acre or a bit more for the spelt due to its bigger seed heads. I grow a variety called “Champ”. I have planted a variety called “Sungold”, but I prefer “Champ”
Comment by ricelandmeadows July 10, 2018 @ 9:20 am