The Wheat Has Sprouted!

On May 26th we noticed that something like grass was growing in our field. We decided to let it grow and not pick it until we could decide if it was a weed or the wheat.

Wheat?? It is growing along the lines where we planted...

By the next day it was very obvious that our wheat had sprouted (or "emerged" as all of the farmers tend to say). Not all of the rows have emerged yet, and we are not sure if that is because of planting depth or sunshine, or who knows what. So much of this is really rather mysterious!

May 27th. Look! Real wheat! Some rows are faster than others.

 Watching it pop up is surprising - it seems like the wheat is busting right through the soil, and picking up large chunks as it emerges.

Look at it lift the soil! Wheat Power!

Lifting the soil. Hmmm...maybe that string is in the way now.

The tallest sprouts we have right now are three inches (about 5 cm) tall, and about 20% of our field has emerged.

Measuring Up

Taking pictures of this is fun, because with the right angle the wheat already looks very tall!

Now that looks like a healthy crop!

There is rain in the forecast, so the wheat will soon get some more water. We have not watered it at all so far, but we did have four days of rainshowers right after planting. In a large field a farmer would not normally water (irrigate) a wheat field, and we are all wondering how the wheat can do so well without needing extra water. It seems like all of the other plants we have need extra water, so why not the wheat? Another mystery. I'm sure that a crop scientist could tell us why our Carberry Hard Red Spring Wheat is so hardy.

Say Cheese! (But is the wheat smiling too???)

Our next step will be to remove the strings, and maybe set up a little fence. We have rabbits who love to eat all kinds of things that we grow in our flower beds and in our garden. We don't know if rabbits eat baby wheat, but they might. A fence could help with that. We also have to figure out the thinning of the rows.

That is all we know so far.