how to harvest oats?

[mellowtigger]

Most of human calorie consumption comes from grains rather than fruits, vegetables, or meats (carnivorous foeclan excepted, of course).  I read an article this morning about how improvements in processing and delivery of grains could make a huge impact on energy needs.
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/49495

Earlier this year, I experimented with a few grains. I threw out oats, quinoa, barley, and rice. I sowed them in a narrow space available between parked vehicles (photo on right).

I wasn't sure where to get seeds that would sprout, so I just tried bulk stuff from the grocery store. Only the oats came up. I'm guessing the others are heated or otherwise processed for eventual human consumption in a way that keeps them from germinating. I need to find a place online that will ship very small quantities of seeds for growing. Anyone have ideas? I'm wondering if there's enough of a growing season left for me to get a second crop of oats this year too. I tossed out another batch of seeds this morning. We'll see if they produce before frost arrives.

Also, I'm curious how to harvest oats. I've plucked a few seeds from plants and torn off the hulls. Eating them one at a time is rather unsatisfying. So how do I prepare a whole bowl full at once? Do I tear off the heads and keep them somewhere safe from birds and squirrels while they continue to dry out?  Then is it easy to just shake off the hull?  Are the oats cooked as breakfast cereal just whole oats pounded flat?  City boy doesn't know, so he's asking questions.  :)

Just to show it off, here is a photo (on left) of the thyme that's been blooming in one of the garden spots. It's been flowering continuously for weeks now. Very pretty. It works really well with the strawberry, which can reach taller than the thyme to get plenty of its own sunlight. I like this combination. I'll do more of it next year.

Comments

[dodecadragon.livejournal.com]

I was just reading up on this a couple weeks ago, Wiki is a good start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oat#Harvesting

I was trying to figure out how much oat I'd need to feed my self for a year if I ate a cup a day. Still haven't figured that out yet.

[mellowtigger]

"Grains: Oats, dry has 567 calories, 4.4g of fat and 123.0g of carbs in each cup (5.8 oz)." according to CalorieKing.com.

Assuming you're eating other things to improve nutrient ingestion, then you might get enough calories to live on daily with oats as the primary source. Eating only 1 cup of oats and nothing else though is a recipe for starvation.

[dodecadragon.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, was not planning on living solely on oats. I just wouldn't eat more than a cup a day.

I have other foods in mind as well. And I need to figure out how much of those I need too.

Spinach, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, blue berries, grapes/raisins, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, peanuts, pecans, almonds, tomatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, beets, honey (requires a bee hive), these are the main list of foods I like to eat on a daily basis. So my goal is to see how much land do I need to produce enough of these foods to sustain myself. Or perhaps a little more than enough to sustain myself so I can trade for some animal proteins and other items. Once I figure out how much land is needed, then I can work on seeing if I can grow them year round in greenhouse dome(s).

Although, I keep reading about how eating a reduced calorie diet is suppose to be healthier, and I remember reading something about a guy who ate nothing and got all his nourishment from the sun. http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/28-08-2006/84110-sunlight-0 :o)

[mellowtigger]

Sunlight and water, sure. Very crunchy water. :)

edit: Even back in high school, I thought it would be wise to redesign humans to include symbiotic photosynthetic organisms in our skin cells. That's basically how coral get by. Corals eat other organisms, yes, but they also use the oxygen and other nutrients provided by the algae within their cells.

[mellowtigger]

Note to self: Someone on facebook suggested these two links.

http://www.howeseeds.com/products.html
http://www.organicgrains.ncsu.edu/production/seedsuppliers.htm