Goal

To find out if any old Nordic or northern European rye landraces or cultivars will grow well here and if they could add some biodiversity and different flavors and other qualities to our local agriculture and food production.

 

Fall 2020

Planted very small squares of 19 different landraces and old or relatively old cultivars, most of which came from GRIN (USDA gene bank).

1. Ensi 

2. Oiva  

3. Visa 

4. Belhjoa   

5. Voima 

6. Hja Jussi   

7. Toivo  

8. Pekka 265470   

9. Pekka 290442  

10. Anna

11. Kaltenberger

12. Lungauer Tauer

13. Muchlenviertle

14. Erzgebirgischer

15. Landsort Tz Frumos

16. Refsum

17. Svedjerug Tvengsberg

18. SN-2202

19. SN-2205

 

Spring/Summer 2021 Trials

The plan was to compare things like winter survival, lodging, height, disease, what the grains were like, etc. I knew they would all cross pollinate, so saving pure seed wasn't a goal. Saving seed of the cross-pollinated population was a goal.

 

I noted how well each variety survived the winter. That much worked.

Because of the challenging summer weather (high winds, heavy rains, serious heat and humidity) and the resulting lodging, disease, and discouragement, the trials did not yield the information I was hoping to get. 

I did collect a good amount of the crossed seed from the different varieties and noticed a couple of them that did very poorly.

 

 

 

Fall 2021

I gave seeds of five different varieties that seem promising, one variety to each of five different people to grow out. I hope to combine a trial of these varieties with increasing the seed a bit.

 

 

 

---

 

Jane Crandell - Belhjoa (either Finnish or Polish from Finland)

 

Seeded on 23 Sept, 2021 - Poor germination; transplanted 10 to a new spot to consolidate.

 

April 10, 2022 - 7 of the 10 made it thru the winter but are not doing much yet. Will report more later in the spring.

 

July 2, 2022  All 7 plants that made it thru the winter are very tall. Here are some pictures on a windy day, June 18.

 

 

 

 

---

 

Karla - Pekka 265470 (Finnish x Swedish)

   

Seeded on 21 Sept (direct seeded 50 or 51 seeds)
  11.13.2021    

 

Notes:  There are 41 or 42 plants however 2 are tiny and may not make it.

I believe germination was higher but I think I pulled up a couple of plants early on thinking they were grass / weeds. 

04.09.2022
Pekka came through winter well I believe - 41 plants - 1 tiny and 1 smallish.  See picture below.

 

 

05.31.2022  Pekka 265470 (Finnish x Swedish) Height range: approx. 32" - 63"

 

06.30.2022 Pekka 265470 (Finnish x Swedish)
Some lodging on one side into center after 05.31.2022 (I believe mid-to-late June but not 100%)

 

 

 

 

July 27, 2022 - Harvest

I harvested (dug or pulled) 43 Pekka Rye plants today. Of those that I measured (crown to tip):

--  the shortest was approx. 48" (4') ;
--  the tallest  was approx. 71" (5'11");
--  I believe all or most others were well over 5' with several in the  68-69" (5'8" - 5'9") range;

Also,
--  I believe that most of the kernels were either in the hard dough stage (when the kernels are beginning to harden but are still soft enough to chew); flint stage (when the kernels are hard and dry); or the soft dough stage( when the kernels are soft but chewy) - a little uncertain about it  but I seemed to have all 3 - I may not have sampled enough; I tested with my teeth;
-- I did have some lodging on one end and side and a little in the center (it is also possible that something got in there; they did not seem to spring back); lodging was noted previously;
-- I've bundled them and hung them up  to dry in the house;

 

June compared to end of July

 

 

 

---

 

Meg Murphy - Toivo (Native Finnish x Belgian)

   

Seeded on 20 September 

     "I applied about 2 cups of ProGro 5-3-4 to the 4x6 foot area.  Looks like it's up (Sept. 30), about 4 inches,

    somewhat sparsely."

Meg's photo from November 11

 

May 3, 2022

I have nine Toivo rye that are looking great, about a foot tall (as of 5/1/22).  I believe that they all made it through the winter fine, It's a lot fewer plants than I was expecting to get, but the plot was quite sparse last fall. I just planted some Terra hulless oats next to them (hopefully this is ok?).  I'll note how they do this summer and when they ripen.  This is my first time growing grain, other than corn. I don't think deer have gotten at the rye at all.  Possibly I lost a lot of seed to birds last fall?  Or maybe germination just wasn't great. 

 

May 30, 2022

Toivo heading up

 

July 21, 2021

My observations of the Toivo on 7/2/22 was that there were 15 plants, 4-6 feet tall, with 2 possibly lodging.  I think winter survival was good, I think low germination or seed being eaten in the fall was what accounted for the low number of plants.  The kernels were not milky but soft enough to squeeze?  So maybe soft dough stage?  

 

I harvested on 7/13/22 and have the five bunches hanging to dry.  I'm new to grain, and this has been a fun project.  I plan to send all the seed I thresh back to you, as I don't care much for rye anyway.  I do have Terra hulless oats growing next to where the rye was.  I do love oats.

 

Here are the last pictures of the Toivo, taken 7/11.

---

 

Sylvia Smith - Erzgebirgischer (German landrace)

 

Seeded on 19 Sept 2021

 

April 4, 2022 - The rye patch came through the winter very well.

 

Photo from June

 

July 3, 2022 - The rye is looking good.   After each rain, it shoots up another foot.  Now it is a little over 6 feet tall.  No lodging so far.  And no birds.  The grain heads look similar to Karla's.

 

July 27, 2022 - Harvest

The average height was around 6 feet; the tallest was 7 feet.  Very little lodging - just a few stalks at the edges of the little plot.  Some of the seeds looked like they were about to drop so I harvested them all this morning, placing bunches of stalks - grain end down - in 2 large paper bags to dry further. I keep them in a room with good air movement.  The bags stay open.  Every few days I shift the stalks around a bit.  I have dried herbs and wheat this way for years. 

 

To show the height

 

---

 

John and Zsuzsa of Trukenbrod Mill & Bakery - Svedjerug Tvengsberg (Finland via Norway) 

     

Seeded on September 21, 2021 in soil blocks

 

July 1, 2022 update: The Tvengsberg rye in our garden is well over seven feet tall and looks beautiful. We have had no problems with lodging, knock on wood.

This Tvengsberg Rye is probably my most favorite of about the half a dozen types of grains we planted. It is one of the smallest batches we have too, but probably the tallest of all, looking very good and beautiful. We are expecting a nice harvest.

---

 

Ruth - Svederug Tvengsberg

 

Seeded in cells on September 13, 2021; transplanted 1st of October on roughly an 8”x8” grid; I wavered a bit.

Ready for transplanting

 

 

 

November 20, 2021

 

April 10, 2022   Good winter survival

 

 

Sometime in May several plants lodged in a storm with huge winds and rain.

I cut them out and you can see the spot where they were.

 

Flowering (anthesis) was happening the first week of June.

You can see the anthers with their pollen.

 

 

 

Heads nodding with fattening kernels on June 30th.

 

 

July 24, 2022

I harvested my little plot of Tvengsberg. I harvested a couple of plants

a few days ago, but most I left until today. The heads ranged from hard dough to flint stage, with just a few at the soft dough stage, and I kept those separate when bundling them to hang. I found 1 ergot and a little bit of mildew, but most were healthy. I probably could have harvested a little earlier. Their height ranged from about 5' to a good 7' or more. I shortened the stems for hanging, as you can see in the photo. They are now hanging to cure out of the rain. Yay rain! I'll hang them back outside on the porch after the rain.