Rye

Now how did we end up doing rye? Initially it was a cover crop, to be destroyed and used as a smother crop. The variety we chose was Elbon Rye released by the Oklahoma State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1956. It is long stemmed and produces a lot of organic matter which makes it perfect for smother crops.

It seemed a waste to destroy a crop what we could grow in the winter, as it is our wet season. We decided harvesting the grain would be a good idea especially since we had purchased a combine for dry beans. We also stumbled up on a sturdy table top flour mill to grind it into flour. Couple that with some inspiration we got from Pungo Creek Mills Indian Cornmeal on the east coast, we decided to found our own flour and meal business. The wisdom of this venture has yet to be realized. We have rye and our packaging and sales effort is just ramping up.

In the middle of this we have corn and peas growing and a limited amount of water available for both. The corn requires more so when we deploy drip irrigation next week, the corn will receive the water. If there is time we will re-deploy and water peas. Hopefully rain will come and help out.

We have been blessed with adequate soil moisture up to now.

As for the rye, we did harvest the grain, and we still had plenty of dead mulch. We no-tilled peas into the mowed down stubble. These peas are growing with very little weed pressure.

As for the future of small grains on our farm, I am unsure. I am looking for a suitable drill for planting them and more acreage on which to plant. Returns for small grains, if you do not mill them yourself, are small.

We sell our flour for the very reasonable price of $3.75 per 2 pound bag. Yes, it is more expensive than store brands. What you get for that price, is zero percent chance of cross contamination. Elliott Family Farms only mills low gluten grains below 12%. We are not marketing this to folks with celiac disease. We are, however, marketing to folks with concerns about where their food comes from and how it is processed. Rye is purported to have other beneficial aspects. I am a diabetic and I eat it.  Within reason. To me, a carb is a carb and that is how I count them. If you are going to eat a carb, I suggest something made with our flour.

You may buy the flour directly off the farm or through eBay. The price is $4 on eBay because of handling.