Growing your own wheat isn't feasible for most people. You need about 974 sq ft to have enough wheat to sustain your family for a full year. Then there is the harvest, which is extremely labor intensive doing it by hand. But as an experiment with the kids, a small patch is great.
Flour doesn't store long term very well. Whole wheat tends to get freezer burn, and only stays "Fresh" for about 3 months. This is why bleached flour came into being. I know it's horrible for the organic people. However sometimes beggars can't be choosers, and bleached flour will stay "fresh" for up to 1 year. I highly suggest storing whole wheat berries and grinding it yourself. That does take a bit of work, but you can store it longer.
When storing whole grains you need to keep them in a place that rarely sees over 70F but stays above freezing. No food should see day light in a long or medium term storage situation. And humidity is your worse enemy. Keep your containers off the floor and have tight lids securely in place.
I strong smelling herb on top of your grains will keep the worms away, dried lavender will help keep the mice at bay.
When rotating your supply, don't add new to the top. Use up what you have in the container, clean it, then add the new stuff. I would use smaller containers stacked upon each other rather than 1 large bin.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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We do not grow our own wheat. We purchase it in bulk from here:
http://www.azurestandard.com/
It's organic and non-GMO.
I store it in 6 gal buckets, with mylar liners and oxygen absorbers.
You can purchase it already bucketed from here:
http://www.waltonfeed.com/
We have a cold room (can you say above ground root cellar?) that we keep our long term storage in.
Get your food stores in NOW!!!
Bob
III
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