My current wheat supply
 

While I'm cruising this forum I'd like share what happened today.
I went to the local feed store for a few more bags of untreated wheat...
(white spring) to store in mylar/5gal buckets.
In this area it's called seed for birds.
The store was out of stock and didn't even know if they could get anymore.

Next step.. I called my farmer friend/ county commisioner who is very well connected ...."I doubt you could even find a bushel of wheat in this county right now"

OOOOKAAAY. I quess I'll wait until July when the next harvest comes.
I can't wait to see what a loaf of WONDER WINKY BREAD will be in a couple of months.
Good luck folks

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Between this and the thread on the General Forum yesterday from Dom about limits being eased resulting in wheat prices skyrocketing 50%.... I think it's time I bought some flour!

I found some 50lb. bags of good organic hard red whole wheat flour. How do I store this?

I have a celler but it's got a big problem with moisture during the hot summer, which results in mold.

What kind of buckets are you using that have mylar? I never heard of that... I use mylar sheets to reflect light back on indoor plants. Thats about my only experience with the stuff

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Thank's for the info Brewer,
I copy your post in this thread http://goldismoney.info/forums/showt...d=1#post969406

That's really intresting, confirms and support the prices really...

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Whole wheat 'flour', or any flour for that matter stores best when it's in seed form. Grind your own.

Once you grind it, it's shelf life declines. Grind only what you need for the next few days.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

As a coffee aficionado I completely understand that. I only buy whole bean coffee and grind only before brewing and only enough for that one time. If I grind then leave them to sit for even just days the flavor is completely lost!

So I will try to find wheat berries instead. That's the term I'm looking for, right? "wheat berries"? Or is there a difference with that and "seed" ?

Re: My current wheat supply
 

You use Mylar bags and stick them in buckets.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

You want wheat berries. They are the seeds of the wheat plant. I use organic Hard Red Winter Wheat. It has lots of gluten and makes a nice loaf. 2 cups grind into 2 1/2 cups of flour. Bread made from fresh ground whole wheat has a different taste and texture. I find it is far superior.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Or you can vacuum seal lots of packages to keep moisture out and prevent any insects from growing, and toss the sealed bags in cheap metal trash cans or clean 55 gallon drums to keep rodents out.

Determined rodents can get into thick plastic. They holed one of our plastic storage units. We get possums and raccoons as well as mice and rats from time to time and several times did not take care of it fast enough. We wanted to have mercy on mama raccoon and mama possum who left after using the house as a nesting spot for having babies. I am still trying to seal up all the entry points they made!

If you have low incidence of rodent problems, the buckets stack better. OTOH the vacuum packages can be sized to be about a month's worth, and the sealer can seal other items you might want to hide away in locations that otherwise might cause them to rust, for example. Also if you plan to bug out in a vehicle clothing and sleeping bags can be vacuum sealed to take up much less space. Our bags are on rollers and we don't plan to put them on our backs, so that works for us, but making stuff pack a lot smaller does not make it a bit lighter. But anyway, that system gives you additional advantages. We used cheap office tables to make a shelving system for filled cans.

I was waiting for the harvest to get wheat berries. Looks like that wasn't too smart.

We really like corn grits, which are super easy to fix in a slow cooker, rather than the work bread making is, and balance the protein in beans well. We like skillet cornbread too. White corn meal and grits keep very well already ground. They have much less protein than winter wheat, but the beans will provide that. Neither of us likes to bake much but we might use the breadmaker if we have power. It makes very inferior bread... but it is bread. We have enough solar power for the slow cooker.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

can we invest in wheat on the stock market? I have no clue

Re: My current wheat supply
 

DBA is an ETF that is 25% Corn, 25% Wheat, 25% Soy Bean, and 25% Suger....a great food/ag play without messing around directly with futures!

Get some - no brainer!

Re: My current wheat supply
 

I was just looking around today at some grains for storage. Be prepared.com seems to have everything on back order.

The way things looks, maybe it's a little late to be starting preps? :bear_angry:

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Try bluechip.com or I think you can order from here with out being a member http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs...3%26sortOr%3D1

Ohh sorry about the long link.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Don't forget to look at other grains, for variety and availability. I''m on a rye berry kick right now. If you need to store corn popcorn makes an excellent meal.

While not as cheap as the feed store, WinCo has a Bulk section where you can do almost all your preps, as long as you practice caveat emptor, since they're mostly open bins. For an apartment dweller, the 25 lb sacks aren't going to be your best bet anyway.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

We use mylar bags vac sealed then placed inside the 5gal bucket.
Normaly we use 2 bags, about 12lbs each per bucket. This dosen't compromise the entire content of the bucket when you need to use some product. Snip a corner of the bag then pour into 1 gal glass jars etc. for short term storage and use. We've even re-used the bag with some success.
Using the mylar bag enables you to use 5gal buckets that may not be food grade.
We vac seal the mylar bags with a shop vac rigged up with a small diameter tube. This takes some practice and a helper.
We use this system for all our beans, white rice, wheatberries.
Good luck

Re: My current wheat supply
 

I'd like to add that I'm experimenting with some flatbread sprouted wheatberries recipes... sprout the wheat run it thru a hand cranked meat grinder add flour, yeast etc etc.
The failed attempts make great dog biscuits.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Or chicken feed, or catfish food......

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Do not ask for wheat "seed". You may get it. Seed is often treated with chemicals. Ask for wheat berries or feed wheat. Feed wheat is for animals and is cleaned further, chaff, stones, foreign material, before it can be classified as suitable for human consumption.

Re: My current wheat supply
 

Consider spelt or durum berries (or flour) as an alternative to conventional wheat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durum

Prices may be slightly higher than conventional wheat, check with your suppiers, but they may be more available.

Both spelt and durum are just as nutritious and wholesome (if not more so) as conventional wheat and can be used in all the recipes that wheat is.