The economy is headed south, grocery prices are rising, gasoline is in short supply but . . we have a ton of wheat! My wheat supply is kinda like my fabric stash. It is out of control! When I started grinding my own wheat, I ordered 100 pounds. Then I was Whole Foods and I found that their price was much better than what I had paid when I ordered wheat so I bought 100 pounds there. That means I had 200 pounds. We do use a fair amount but we hadn’t really made much of a dent in the 200 pounds. Someone at work had told Vince that their family raised organic Prairie Gold Wheat, as well as organic hard red wheat and they could get him some. Vince asked them to get 200 pounds. That never happened so we decided to get Whole Foods to order us another 200 pounds . . just to have. You know . . if there’s a shortage or the price goes way up, we’ll have plenty. So, now we have 400 pounds of wheat. I have an online quilting buddy in OK who raises wheat and she sent me probably about 50 pounds. Now I have 450 pounds.
Today, as I was on my 6th load of laundry that I was hanging on the line, the phone rang. It was Vince. Can you go down to the driver’s license office and pick up the 200 pounds of wheat? OMG! the last thing I needed was another 200 pounds of wheat but . . that’s what I got.
Every half gallon jar in this house is full of wheat or rice or beans. I had some of those huge XXL Ziploc bags that are big enough to drive my car into. I had those for storing craft projects but I went ahead and used them, along with about 20 gallon size ziploc bags for wheat. Now my freezer is jam packed full!
And, to make it all worse . . Vince is on the Atkins Diet and not even eating bread!
I’m not sure how many wheat berries one little dachshund can eat before exploding but he gobbled up every one that dropped while I was packaging the wheat. He loves wheat berries! Hmmm . . think I could feed him 650 pounds of wheat? Doubtful!
Maya says
Wow! That is a lot of wheat! I am just amazed you have been able to find place for all of it. When DH brings home a larger than usual bag of wheat flour, I despair. We’ve not organized the garage enough to be able to store food there – and though our kitchen has much more storage space than we ever had before, it is just enough to store what we need for a month (or two at most).
Sandra :) says
ROTFL I think you probably have enough wheat now!
Cleary says
Well at least you won’t have to buy any for awhile lol, good luck with using it all.
SueR says
ROFLOL, 650 pounds of wheat!! Start cooking!
Caroline in NH says
Instead of keeping it all in the freezer, you might consider using five-gallon buckets with Gamma Seal lids. If you’re worried at all about bugs, the Gamma Seal lids combined with O2 absorbers will keep the grain stable for several years, at least.
CJ says
What Caroline said. Get yourself some 5 gallon buckets and seal it up. Wheat berries, if kept in a controlled environment, will last a good 10 years. I have about 450lbs on hand, so you’re not alone 🙂
Nancy says
Tell Vince he should switch to the South Beach Diet where whole wheat bread, pasta, pizza crust, etc. is allowed. DH and I lost more than 70lbs. on it. It’s way easier to stay on than Atkins! Otherwise, I’d suggest going in the bakery business. 🙂
Karen L says
I’ll let you do the math….you have apx 10.5 bushels of wheat at your home…..and according to the stats…..64 loaves of whole wheat bread can be produced from one bushel.
Karen L
meggie says
I was giggling to think of your poor little ‘blimp’- er I mean doggie!
I hope you don’t get weavils over there, or the Indian Mealy moth!!
pdudgeon says
I’d say you are one smart food shopper!
and yes, switch to South Beach. it’s a much healthier diet.
Steve says
I found your blog through Google Alerts for “wheat.” Thought I’d comment: the average per capita U.S. annual consumption of wheat (through flour, bread, etc.) is about 141 lbs. A bushel of wheat weighs about 60 lbs. So if you saved 282 lbs this year, you’d have two bushels left over. If you sold that wheat like a farmer at today’s cash prices, you would earn $13.50.
MamaK says
We’re planting our 2009 crop…so you better start baking!
Gail says
All this wheat talk is strange to me. I guess because we don’t have alot of locally grown wheat, nobody uses wheat in blulk like you do. But do you ever watch the Barefoot Contessa. She makes a wheatberry salad that is so simple but so tasty.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/wheatberry-salad-recipe/index.html
Cindy says
Does it matter that it says soybeans on the sack?
Pat says
When our kids were at home, I made whole wheat bread from the wheat we ground. The rule was when friends were over, bread/toast and jam was always an option for them. That way I was never surprised at not having what I’d planned for supper. The bread was satisfying, too. We miss that, but have found a source for some good bread. Although I’ve wondered if I shouldn’t replace my broken wheat grinder with a new one. There is something about hot bread!!!
Lynne in Hawaii says
You can also sprout the wheatberries and add the sprouts to sandwiches and salads, crack it and make cereal, add the wheatberries to salads and more! It is also good to have on hand…yep you have it on hand for sure…for emergency preparedness. If you get trapped at home, you will have plenty to keep your family healthy. It does store well. (In sealed buckets in 65 – 72 degree temps such as a basement closet). That is 10 year storage in less than ideal conditions and much more in ideal conditions.
Perry says
Wonder if you can convert it to gasoline for the car? LOL….