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Two

What are Grains

and why should you grow them?

The truth is, you don’t need to know much to successfully grow grains – I certainly didn’t. Until I started researching for this book, I didn’t know the difference between a seed and a cereal grain, let alone how legumes fit in. So just what is a grain? It is a fair question to ask in the midst of our 21st century’s anti-carbohydrate world. I’d venture to say very few people would correctly define a grain without first doing an online search.

There are two main types of grains:

Cereals, the focus of this book; and

Legumes, such as soybeans and peanuts.

Generally, grains are characterized by their hard, dry “seed” (which sometimes has an attached hull or fruit layer but doesn’t have to). If that description doesn’t clarify it, I understand! But I promise it has no bearing on your ability to grow these wonderful plants.

Rye seed heads drying in the sun.

WHEN IS A “SEED” NOT A SEED?

The difference between seeds and grains is rather complex. Technically, a seed is an embryonic plant covered in a seed coat. Sometimes this seed is edible, other times it is not. Seeds are formed after fertilization of a plant has taken place and the ovule has ripened. In contrast, a grain is actually a fruit harvested from plants in the grass family, Poaceae.

The main advantage grains offer as a nutritional source is their durability and long shelf life. Compared to starchy foods and tubers such as potatoes, grains are better suited for industrial agriculture because they can be mechanically planted and harvested. They can be stored for long periods of time in large quantities and shipped across the globe without spoiling. Grains can also be pressed into oil and milled into flour. Global commodity markets exist for all grains but not for tubers, vegetables and fruits.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Grains are the most important staple food in the world. As a staple, they are eaten frequently, often multiple times a day. Rice, corn and wheat are the most common and all can be grown in your sunny home landscape! Half of the grains cultivated around the world are harvested for human consumption.

One of the reasons grains are so important is because they are a valuable source of carbohydrates and vitamins. When paired with a protein-rich legume, you can create a very healthy diet. Some examples include corn and beans, rice and tofu, and my favorite childhood meal, wheat bread and peanut butter.

NOT JUST FOR HUMANS: Grains are an essential aspect of livestock nutrition. A third of the world’s grain supply is fed to animals, from cattle and chickens to our pet cats and dogs. Cooking oils and alcohol both start from grains, not to mention the many industrial products that are created, including biodiesel.

Our home landscapes offer a way to grow grains, like corn, with ecological consideration.

Did you know… grains provide 48% of human caloric intake, or “food energy?”

Simply put, life would not exist as we know it without cereal grain production. Even the paleo diet involves grains, to feed the protein sources. At the end of the day, no person gets around grain consumption.

If you can grow anything, you can grow grains

Like many of our favorite garden plants, grains are annuals, meaning they have one growing season per year, yielding one crop. The term annual indicates that a plant will go through every life stage in one season: growth, maturity, seed set and death. In the case of grains (unlike fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers), you harvest after the plant dies.

Generally speaking, grains like to be grown in full sun, with moist, well-drained soil that has a neutral pH. Basically, I just described the ideal condition for almost every single garden plant. Of course, grains are well adapted to adverse conditions, but the advantage of growing them in your home landscape is that you can provide the cultural conditions to maximize their growth. Trust me – compared to a petunia or tomato, grains are the easiest plants in the world to cultivate!

Barley grows with purple cabbage through the cool season in central North Carolina USDA Zone 7B.

TIMING AND CLIMATE: When growing a plant you have no experience with, timing will be the biggest challenge. The good news is that there are grains that can grow in almost every climate. Some grains prefer cool weather others prefer hot, tropical regions. That is why I have split the six grains featured in this book into two categories: cool season/short-day crops, and warm season/long-day crops.

Rye is a cold-tolerant grain commonly grown for animal feed.

Since I live in a subtropical climate (USDA Hardiness Zone 7) with four distinct seasons and mild winters, I am able to cultivate grains 12 months of the year. If you live in northern regions, the growing season is more condensed and planting dates will vary from early spring through mid-fall. As is the case with all plants, it is best to do some research on your specific growing area. I try to pay attention to what the farmers around me are doing. They earn their living from successfully cultivating crops, so they know when to plant and harvest.

COLD-TOLERANT GRAINS: These are the grains that are tolerant of cold, wet climates, which often coincide with winter, when the days are short. This category includes barley, oats and wheat – all of them winter crops in my North Carolina foodscape. They prefer to grow in cool soil and air temperatures. They ripen as the days turn hot and long. In the northern U.S. and into Canada, barley, oats and wheat are frequently sown in very early spring and can grow through the duration of summer, with a fall harvest. However, some varieties of these plants are seeded in fall; they germinate but remain mostly dormant through winter and are harvested in late spring. Every region is different, which is why consulting a local authority is the very best advice I can offer.

HEAT-TOLERANT GRAINS: Warm season grains, such as corn, rice and sorghum prefer hotter soil and air temperatures. In North America, that is the condition of the long days of summer. In tropical regions, however, these plants can thrive year-round if adequate water is available. Most importantly, warm season crops need a soil temperature above 55°F for seed germination and root development. In my North Carolina garden I plant these varieties in May-June and harvest in early-mid fall.

Did you Know… warm season grains (like corn, rice and sorghum) are frost sensitive? They suffer when temperatures are below 40°F and can't survive below 32°F.

GREAT GARDEN COMPANIONS: As landscape elements, grains are well suited to be incorporated with other plants, both edibles and ornamentals. Although typically grown as monocultures in agricultural applications, in the home garden you can be more creative. I always say straight lines are for machines, so it is your job as a home grain grower to select companion plants based on cultural requirements in the space you have available. Sure, you can grow any of the plants featured in this book the way a farmer does, but why? The point here is that you are not a farmer, so give yourself permission to do something more interesting!

I love pairing my cool season grains with flowering annuals such as larkspur, poppies, nigella, bachelor’s buttons and snapdragons. Warm season combinations include cosmos, marigolds, sesame, sunflowers and zinnias. The sky is the limit when it comes to pairing your grains with other garden specimens. (Chapter 8 will be all about beautiful companions for your grains.)

Beyond the sheer beauty and versatility of grains, I’m absolutely sold on how low maintenance they are – especially as I find myself traveling more and more and having less time in my garden. Grains require very little effort, including fertilizer needs, making them a great option for gardeners looking for less work.

Soil health is critical for successful plantings

I always recommend first getting a soil test to better understand what nutrients you may be lacking in your native soil. Once you have that information, you can start to layer organic matter in your beds.

GREEN MULCH: Here’s another gift from the grain gods: growing grains for their biomass, which can be mowed in place after you harvest the seed. This “green mulch” practice is similar to cover cropping and offers a quick and easy solution for compacted ground, hardpan clay and even dry, sandy soil, by adding essential organic matter into the ground layer. Decomposition is really the key to feeding the soil’s biology, and that will in turn feed your plants.

MY FAVORITE NATURAL AMENDMENT IS GROUND LEAVES!

Leaves truly are God’s gift to gardeners, so don’t rake them to the street or burn them. Instead, mow or shred them and topdress your beds. They will quickly break down and add nutrients to your soil.

Did you know… a plant’s biomass is the combined weight of its plant material above and below the ground? Plant biomass can be valuable as a storehouse of the sun’s energy gained through photosynthesis.

CROP ROTATION: Grains are frequently included in agricultural crop rotations as a means of building soil health, suppressing specific diseases and pests and adding nutrients back to the earth. This was a common practice in the pre-chemical era of farming, and I hope to see a resurgence of thoughtful crop rotations in the future. In particular, I want to encourage home growers to adopt this practice, as it is an easy way to improve the space you are growing in. Remember, there is no rule that says you can’t apply a farming technique to your home landscape, just like there is no requirement for you to plant in straight lines when you are hand planting and harvesting!

To that end, cereal grains are ideal cover crops because their deep roots literally scavenge for nutrients. Essentially, as the grain develops, the roots seek out nutrients deep in the earth and draw them back to the surface through the stems and leaves. Barley, oats and wheat are particularly useful scavengers, providing natural fertility for the next season.

If I have said it once in my talks to gardeners, I’ve said it a thousand times: Healthy soil results in happy plants, less disease and reduced insect pressure – and higher yields for you and your loved ones to enjoy.

Some useful botanical definitions

(you will not be tested on this)

Understanding exactly what a cereal grain is may not seem important, but often people, including myself, find themselves confused. I want to take this opportunity to very generally explain the various categories and terminologies so you can feel like an expert!

Plants are first distinguished by their structure in the cotyledon stage, which simply refers to how many leaves appear upon germination. There are plants that will develop only one leaf, commonly referred to as a monocot and others that will have two leaves known as dicots.

MONOCOTYLEDONS are defined as flowering plants such as grasses, lilies and palms that have a single vein in the seed. Upon germination, a single leaf will appear. Monocots also share a combination of characteristics, including leaves with parallel veins and flower parts in multiples of three. They also lack secondary growth, which means they have a single growing point and do not “bush out” if you break the top off; this is known as “apical dominance,” where the stem of the plant grows more strongly than other side shoots. Traditional grains are monocots.

DICOTYLEDONS include many of the most common garden specimens like tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, beans and peas. They are flowering plants that have two seed leaves and typically have flower parts in multiples of four or five and pollen with three pores. The leaves have reticulate venation (web-like veining) and they also have the capacity for secondary growth. This is why you can prune the tips of plants to induce a bushy growing habit.

PSEUDO-CEREAL GRAINS are starchy grains from broadleaf plant families; they are dicots. This includes amaranth, buckwheat, chia and quinoa. These tend to be easy-to-grow warm season crops that can set millions of seeds – which can become a problem for the home grower. Amaranth in particular can become quite a garden pest, difficult to eradicate. If you are inclined to grow it, I recommend harvesting the seed early to avoid the potential for a future invasion.

Buckwheat is a pseudo-cereal in the Amaranthaceae family.

Peanuts make a wonderful addition to the landscape (top photo), in addition to being a nutritious crop.

Rapeseed planted at Chanticleer is an oilseed grain.

GRAIN LEGUMES, also called pulses, are members of the pea family (Fababceae) and offer high protein content, ranging from 20-40%. These plants are dicots. In addition to being a source of protein, legumes also contain carbohydrate and fat. Delicious crops such as chickpeas, beans, lentils, peanuts, peas and soybeans are considered legumes. Grains and legumes are ideal companion plants and should be utilized in regular crop rotations to maximize the available nutrients in your soil. Legumes are nitrogen fixers; in addition to being important sources of nutrition, they also increase fertility in the soil.

OILSEED GRAINS are primarily grown for the extraction of their edible oil, fuel or lubricant. Many plants fall into this category, though most home gardeners grow them for their foliage and flowers. Mustards and rapeseed (the source of Canola oil) from the Brassicaceae family are important oilseed plants. Others include flax, hemp, poppy, safflower, sesame and sunflowers.

All of these plants grow in similar conditions to traditional cereal grains. I encourage you to consider growing these to complement your traditional landscape and expand your horizons. Even if a plant seems impractical from a harvesting perspective, that’s okay! As home gardeners, we have the privilege of growing plants simply for the experience. Even a novelty crop can provide valuable educational opportunities as well as fascination and exposure to something out of the ordinary. ■