Weatherbury Farm Grain Tracker
From Planting to Harvest, Milky Way Einkorn (Einkorn Flour, Einkorn Flakes & Einkorn Berries) in the field:
Before the einkorn is planted, the fields are plowed and harrowed.
The plows (background) turn over the earth and the harrow (foreground)smooths the fields.
Planting Einkorn
Milky Way Einkorn is a winter planted grain — this means that the einkorn needs to vernalize to produce grain. If you were to plant it in the spring, it would just look like grass and not develop any grain.
Frost Seeding Milky Way Einkorn
Frost seeding is spinning clover on the field. The clover suppresses weeds, aids in holding up the grain and, eventually provides nitrogen to the next crop.
Closeup of Einkorn Field
In 1 1/2 months, the plants have grown and grain heads have formed on the einkorn.
Weatherbury Farm at Work
In this photo, you can see one of the einkorn fields (dark green) and three rye fields. Between the grain fields, there is mown hay and at the bottom of the fields, you can see the tractor baling hay. (If you look closely, you can seen a hay bale wrapped in plastic.)
The photo also shows the steepness of the fields we farm and how we use contour fields. Contour fields are important because they significantly reduce soil erosion because they follow the natural contours of a slope, thus allowing rainwater to infiltrate the soil more effectively instead of running off and thereby preserving topsoil and nutrients while maximizing water retention.
Einkorn Flour, Berries and Flakes in the Field
The Milky Way Einkorn is drying down and will soon be ready for harvest.
Harvesting Milky Way Einkorn
The einkorn is harvested with our combine. The einkorn grains remain in the body of the wagon, while the straw comes out the back and is deposited onto the field.
After harvest, the Milky Way Einkorn is loaded into a gravity wagon. Aerators are then placed in the wagon to bring down the moisture of the grain. The grain is stored in the wagon until it is debearded, cleaned and dehulle
Milky Way Einkorn Facts 2024
Milky Way Einkorn Fields 2024
In 2024, Milky Way Einkorn was grown in Independence Township on on three fields of 2.618 acres on the farm known as “Pleasant View Farm.” This farm was established in 1824 by J.M Welsh. Welsh is listed in the Caldwell Atlas as a farmer, grain, stock and wool grower. The farm was dormant for many years; however since 2006, organic grains and hay were grown on this farm. Weatherbury Farm has farmed this land since 2017. The farm has been certified organic since 2006.
The einkorn was planted on October 19,2023.
Clover was frost seeded into the grain on April 15, 2024. (The clover suppresses weeds, aids in holding up the grain and, eventually provides nitrogen to the next crop.)
The einkorn was harvested on July 8, 2024.
At the 2024 Washington County Fair, both the sheaf of Milky Way Emmer the jar of Milky Way Einkorn won 3rd place.
For an illustrated explanation of how Weatherbury grains become flour, visit the from seed to flour page.
About Milky Way Einkorn
Einkorn is one of the three ancient hulled wheats. And even today at taste testings, einkorn flat bread always rates best. At Weatherbury Farm, we grow Milky Way Einkorn, an accession from the USDA small grains collection. It was collected in 1970 in Vorarlberg, Austria, grown out by 40 growers and bulked as the trials looked promising due to yield.
Like spelt, einkorn is protected from the elements by a hull which doesn’t come free in harvest (unlike the hulls on wheat which do). The removal of the hull prior to milling requires special machinery. Weatherbury is lucky to have a dehuller, built by Farmer Nigel.
Products Milled from Milky Way Einkorn
Weatherbury’s Einkorn Family: whole einkorn flour, einkorn berries, einkorn flakes
Milky Way Einkorn is milled into whole and sifted unbleached einkorn flour. Einkorn flour can be used in place of whole wheat flour in most dishes from pie crusts to cakes to pancakes to bread.
Rolled Einkorn Flakes offer a new way to start your day.
Einkorn berries (also known as Farro Piccol0), can be used in everything from baked goods to soups and salads or use like rice in a berry bowl.
Health benefits of Einkorn
Einkorn is the most primitive form of wheat on Earth; it has never been hybridized. Thus, einkorn contains only 14 chromosomes; modern wheat contains 42. Einkorn doesn’t have the D chromosome, which may be connected with wheat intolerance. As a result, it is easier to digest and contains more protein and higher levels of fat, phosphorus, pyridoxine, potassium and beta-carotene than modern wheat.
More Information
Einkorn flour, Einkorn Flakes and Einkorn berries can be ordered from our online shop either for our monthly on-farm pickup or you can have your order sent to you.
To read more about einkorn products please visit our product pages : Einkorn Flour, Einkorn Berries, Einkorn Flakes.
More information on einkorn and other grains are on the grains we grow page.