Any experience growing wheat?

[desman]

Has anyone had any experience growing wheat in subtropical climates? My 4 year old asked me the other day where bread comes from. Thought I might grow some to show him. In a small garden I’m only expecting a handful of flour to make a small damper or similar. Just wondering if it grows without being attacked by pests in subtropical, and where to buy quality seeds

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I don't really know, I always thought you needed quite the amount of space for growing wheat. I'm inexperienced though!

 

[HelenCate]

I keep telling myself I should sow Spelt grain (before Winter), but never quite get there. You can grow a heap per square metre, it looks great, and the kernels are harder than wheat so you don't have to battle the pests to grow a spray-free crop.

 

[Grandmother Goose]

If growing wheat isn't going to work out for you (for your kid's sake I hope it does, that's a great way to teach them), you could do the same lesson in stages. Grow some sort of seeding grass plant in a pot that will survive or show him one growing in your local area and observe how the seeds form on the plant and can be harvested, explain wheat grows in the the same way, maybe find some pictures online to back that up. Buy a small amount of wheat seed so he can see what the wheat seeds look like, then pound that into flour. Then with that or flour from the shop now that he knows what it is and where it's from, bake some bread. In my experience, kids tend to hold their interest in things for only so long, and I've found with mine that if they ask a question like that, they want an answer sooner than it takes for something to grow, mature and be used, so I usually do things like that back to front (in this case I'd bake the bread, then show where the flour came from, then if they're still interested I'd have a go at growing some wheat) but every child is different.

 

[Jason890]

I used to grow it on a larger scale for grain for the dairy it was a winter crop but never tried in the garden we use to live in Monto our winters got to minus five or more it’s only couple hours west of where I am now
Not sure if it’s classed as subtropical you can only try

 

[desman]

I used to grow it on a larger scale for grain for the dairy it was a winter crop but never tried in the garden we use to live in Monto our winters got to minus five or more it’s only couple hours west of where I am now
Not sure if it’s classed as subtropical you can only try

Thanks Jason890. I found some seed online last night and thought what the heck I’ll just try it. Only got 1 packet (200 seeds). It might be better as a winter crop in subtropics - can imagine mould and mildew attacking wheat on our humid summers here - but I know my curiosity and impatience will get the better of me and I’ll plant it this spring.

 

[JP 1983]

The only advice I'll give is that wheat, like corn, is wind pollinated so if you want some good heads you'll need to sow in a dense clump (like 2m x 2m), not in a single thin row.