Inspired by Joe & Kim Morin’s quinoa farm near Lake George, people from Pikes Peak Community Foundation, University of Colorado Colorado Springs and The Harvest Center formed a project group to grow ancient grains in our high altitude environment.
We held our first planning session May 4, 2012 at Aspen Valley Ranch. The group included Ron Beyers, Ron Capen, Nanna Myer, Victoria Solano, and Lee Willoughby. Joe Morin was unable to attend, but sent a sampling of quinoa and Andean Lupin seeds. Several other people who will add valuable expertise and support are cited in the accompanying AncientGrainsIntro.
Hello AGGers (Ancient Grains Growers),
I’ve been researching emmer wheat on the web, and I’m finding precious little about the practical aspects of growing it. Most of what I find in popular literature touts its nutritional qualities and that it can grow on poor soils and is drought resistant, but there is little quantitative information that I can find on what is a poor soil and how much rainfall constitutes a drought for emmer wheat. Most of the scholarly papers I could find deal largely with genetic studies.
I did find a scholarly genetic study that used what the researchers called “water-limited” (250 mm = 9.8 in) with “well-watered” (650 mm = 25.6 in) controls. There was another study that measured 109 mm (=4.3 in) of natural precipitation during May through March (presumably a large part of the growing season in the Israeli growing site).
I’ve been keeping hourly temperature and precipitation data at my house since the summer of 2002. Over the 10 years from 2002-2011, here are some data:
Average temp for June 55.9 F (13.3 C)
July 61.6 F (16.4 C)
Aug 58.5 F (14.7 C)
Average precip. For June 1.3 in, st. dev. 0.95
July 2.4 in, st. dev. 1.6
Aug 3.1 in, st. dev. 1.3
Total avg. precip. For June, July, & Aug = 6.9 in (= 175 mm)
Without any good average temperature data for where emmer wheat is usually grown as a crop, I’m pretty sure our Teller County average temperatures are considerably cooler than where emmer wheat is usually grown. As far as precipitation during the growing season, my averages look like a bare minimum. And considering the standard deviation for my data, irrigation is almost certainly a necessity in Teller County.
I’ve been thinking about a small emmer wheat growing experiment at my house. I think it would have to be a small experiment, on the order of 100 plants, because of the necessity of careful hand watering. When I get it better thought out, I’ll give you the details.
Your fellow AGGer,
Ron C
I’ve been thinking about irrigation requirements for emmer wheat. Starting with the value I found of 250 mm (=9.8 in) of precipitation over the growing season being considered “water-limited”. Suppose I had a plot of 100 square feet in which I planted 100 seeds. If 9.8 in of rainfall fell evenly over that 100 square feet (=14,400 square inches), that would be 9.8 in X 14,400 in2 = 141,120 in3 or 611 gallons for 90 days (assuming a 90 day growing season). Divided by 90 days that’s 6.8 gals/day. Well, that seems like a lot of water. I don’t want to use that much water.
If I carefully hand watered just around each plant, maybe I could water just 9 square inches or so (an area of about 3 in by 3 in). So 9 in2 is 9/14,400 = .000625 or about .06% of the total plot size. Using the 6.8 gals/day number above and multiplying by .06%, I get .004 gals/day x 128 oz/gal = .5 oz/day. It might be more efficient (and less hassle) to water once or twice a week. So I’m thinking about hand watering ~3-4 oz per week for each plant. I think I can feasibly do that. There’s also my measured natural precipitation of 175 mm total for June, July, and Aug. But there’s a large standard deviation. And there’s also competition from nearby grasses that I’m not going to remove on the plot I have in mind.
I’d be happy for any comments.
Fellow AGGer
Ron C