Red Fife Wheat
As discussed in A Wheat Trial of Ancient and Heirloom Wheat Varieties we have begun a trial of a number of different wheat varieties. Here is a list of varieties we are working with:
Early Stone Age—also known as Einkorn. This is a very rare and ancient wheat that was cultivated in Switzerland, Spain and the eastern Caucasus several hundred years ago. Analysis shows that it is more nutritious than modern wheat.
Emmer Wheat
Emmer—another heirloom from ancient times. Emmer was found in some of the earliest farming areas in Turkey and Greece. It is one of the parents of modern wheat.
Pacific Bluestem—one of the most popular wheats in California and the Northwest over 150 years ago. A flavorful wheat that is reputed to be the wheat used to make the famous San Francisco sourdough bread.
Japhet—is a British heritage variety known as “Red Marvel” in England over 100 years ago. Also known in France where it was used to make the famous French artisan breads.
Mirabella—is from ancient Italy and can grow up to 84 inches tall.
Milagre—a landrace wheat from Portugal grown in pre-industrial times.
Mauri Wheat
Globe—an unusual wheat from pre-industrial colonial India. The kernels are small and round.
Sin El Pheel—another landrace wheat from ancient Iraq with very large kernels.
Mauri—from ancient Afghanistan. This wheat was know as Cone and Rivet in England and was widely grown in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Kamut—also known as Polish wheat. Kamut has very large kernels and probably originated in the Fertile Crescent. Reputed to be more drought tolerant than most wheat.
Kamut Wheat
Red Fife—came to Canada from Scotland in the mid-1800’s and became the foundation wheat for the large Minneapolis flour industry.
Turkey Red—originally from Turkey and was grown extensively in the Ukraine prior to 1850. When the Mennonite people had to flee Russia due to persecution, they brought this wheat with them to the U.S., sometimes sewing the seed in the hems of their children’s garments. Turkey Red became the foundation of most American wheats and is a major reason that Kansas became know as the “bread basket of America.”
Russian Beardless—a variety of wheat that we have grown on our farm for the past 16 years. Obviously, it came from Russia and continues to be planted in much of the wheat growing regions of Texas. We are using this variety as our control variety to compare to all of the other trial wheat varieties.
