Post by canadamike on Dec 1, 2008 10:52:23 GMT -5
Thanks to Orflo, I had some seed of this renowned wheat last year.
As I am trying to find the wheats my ancestors brought with them and there is no info on it. Very sadly, it is as if the recorded canadian story of wheat starts last century with RED FIFE, a very old russian wheat that a certain mr Fife grew and became the wheat of the nation for quite a numbers of years until its was hybridized and its babies took over...
I am reduced to get wheats from the regions where our ancestors come from.
ROUGE DE BORDEAUX is not old enough, it was created in the 1800, but it is a wheat in the spirit of this forum. As I sent some to Jim Ternier, from www.prseeds.ca/, who grows lots of them, he wrote me back he tought Orflo had his samples mixed up, as they were 3 different wheats in the field out of the very small number of berries I sent him.
More research later, it turns out it is a grex, a mix of wheats with certain similar characteristics, created with LOTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY in mind to make it adaptable.
Hence, wheat usually not being an out breeder, they ensured that should the area where it is grown not be suitable for one or more of the wheats in the grex, the farmers would get a harvest of the more adapted cultivars anyway.
Selection without intention...cool...
It is extremely highly regarded in the artisanal baking trade. apparently, sufficient quantities have been secured in France by a friend.
The other one I am trying to put my hands on is BLÉ DE REDON which, according to RÉSEAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES ( peasant seeds network) vice-president Jean-François Berthelot, also an artisan baker, has a honey and gingerbread flavor. Even only 20% of it mixed with other flours is enough to give the flavor to the bread.
But this one is hard to get, realy rare, and realy realy hard to put my hands on...
As I am trying to find the wheats my ancestors brought with them and there is no info on it. Very sadly, it is as if the recorded canadian story of wheat starts last century with RED FIFE, a very old russian wheat that a certain mr Fife grew and became the wheat of the nation for quite a numbers of years until its was hybridized and its babies took over...
I am reduced to get wheats from the regions where our ancestors come from.
ROUGE DE BORDEAUX is not old enough, it was created in the 1800, but it is a wheat in the spirit of this forum. As I sent some to Jim Ternier, from www.prseeds.ca/, who grows lots of them, he wrote me back he tought Orflo had his samples mixed up, as they were 3 different wheats in the field out of the very small number of berries I sent him.
More research later, it turns out it is a grex, a mix of wheats with certain similar characteristics, created with LOTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY in mind to make it adaptable.
Hence, wheat usually not being an out breeder, they ensured that should the area where it is grown not be suitable for one or more of the wheats in the grex, the farmers would get a harvest of the more adapted cultivars anyway.
Selection without intention...cool...
It is extremely highly regarded in the artisanal baking trade. apparently, sufficient quantities have been secured in France by a friend.
The other one I am trying to put my hands on is BLÉ DE REDON which, according to RÉSEAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES ( peasant seeds network) vice-president Jean-François Berthelot, also an artisan baker, has a honey and gingerbread flavor. Even only 20% of it mixed with other flours is enough to give the flavor to the bread.
But this one is hard to get, realy rare, and realy realy hard to put my hands on...