To grow enough wheat for a year’s worth of bread, baking, and cooking for a family of 4, you need to have 400 square yards of garden space. That’s 3600 square feet – the amount of space a small to mid-sized home takes up. (corrected thanks to John Neil)
For me, living on a suburban plot of land in the south where I can get 2 crops of wheat a year, that means dedicating 1/3 of my back yard to wheat growing, since my plot is 5x the size of my small house. 1800 square feet is enough space for wheat for those who live in areas where we can get 2 crops a year. I don’t consider that an unreasonable amount of space to prepare and use for something I love as much as bread. I would prefer, of course, to have a much larger plot of land so I could have a bit of grassy party space but bellies before games! You don't have to grow all the wheat you need, so you don't necessarily need all that much space.
You’ll need approximately 200 seeds of wheat per square yard. Sustainable Seeds has a good variety of wheat seeds in small garden sizes. Winter wheat seeds need to be planted about 10 days before the first frost, and spring wheat seeds are planted in early spring. You pick the type of wheat according the to use you plan for it - hard wheats are for breads and crackers and such, soft wheats for cakes and pastries, and durm for pastas.
Prepare the land by clearing and raking it. Or build raised beds. You can build the wheat beds in long rows using scrap lumber from local builders (2×8′s that were 10 feet long, joined into 60 foot long by 3 foot wide beds - you'd need 10 such beds for 1800 square feet - or a 30x60 plot, or any combination you want) with smaller beds between growing other crops of vegetables, or you can make little square plots of wheat, or use those 3' plastic children’s wading pools, and filling the beds with Mel’s Mix of gardening soil – 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 mixed compost materials. Each year, you add home made compost, mulched leaves from your fruit and nut orchard, and worm castings from your worm farm so only the first time you fill the bed costs you anything. If you plant only one bed of wheat each year, in 3 – 4 years, you’ll be growing all the wheat you need. Building raised beds eliminates all of the back-breaking work of preparing and augmenting your soil.
Plant the winter wheat in the early fall, in Oklahoma, that's usually late September. Underplant it with clover so the soil isn’t bare all winter long and to reduce the invasion of weeds. Bonus – if you’re a city beekeeper, the clover is good for your bees and your honey harvest.
You can harvest winter wheat in June, when the spring wheat is still young. Spring wheat ripens in August. I live where I can easily get 2 crops of wheat a year, planting the spring wheat in March or April when the winter wheat is nearly knee high (on me). My wheat patch is small - I have 2 wading pools of soft wheat that produce enough wheat for the cakes I bake, and 3 3x50 raised beds. That gives me all the wheat I need for each year and some wheat berries to store against future need. Wheat berries store for a very long time.
Keep the wheat watered, but not too wet. The raised beds help with drainage, the vermiculite helps retain moisture (as does the clover crop), so you’re less likely to be seriously affected by flooding or drought conditions. In a smaller crop you may also be less likely to have disease or pest problems that require massive chemicals to combat. You can catch it quick and deal with it using more organic methods.
Harvest your wheat when it turns yellow or brown and the grains of wheat are hard when you bite down on them. Start testing after it changes color. Squishy, chewy wheat means it needs another few days.
Most people say you need to harvest your wheat with a scythe, but I’ve discovered an easier way – tie the wheat into bundles just below their heads and again about 6 inches above the soil. Use an electric hedge clipper to cut down your bundles. They are already bound, so all you need to do is stack them to cure - someplace where animals won't eat them. I usually stake poles around the stacks and drape those with bird netting to keep birds off - the biggest problem here in the city.
When the wheat is cured (the grains are hard, shatter easily, and can't be dented with a thumbnail). Slip a cloth bag (pillow case) over the wheat heads, and holding on to the stalks, beat the wheat heads against a brick wall or large boulder. The bag will capture the wheat grains. You could thresh it using a flail (a 3' long board attached to a 2' board with a leather thong - it takes skill to not thwack yourself in the head as you flail the wheat), and you could use a clean metal trash can and beat the wheat against the sides of the can.
Now you have to winnow the wheat. If you’re doing this alone, you can do so with a large flat basket, much like you would for winnowing rice, and tossing it up and catching it back in the basket. The wind will carry away the chaff. If there is no wind, a large fan set on low will do the job, but since I live in a windy area, I can almost always count on wind.
If you have someone to help you winnow your wheat, you can do so with a bedsheet. Just pour the wheat grains onto the sheet, and with people holding the sides or corners of the sheets, gently toss the wheat up and let it fall back onto the sheet. Do this until the chaff has all blown away.
The wheat can be stored at this point and will last for years. Set aside enough wheat to grow next year’s crop and mark it so you don’t grind and eat it. The rest of the wheat can be stored in airtight containers in a cool, dry, dark place away from strong smelling fruits and vegetables. You can store the unground wheat in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer practically forever. If you store the wheat in friction lid buckets, dry the wheat a little more to make sure all the insect eggs and larvae are dead: heat the wheat in an oven for 30 minutes at 140*F. Cool and store. A 5 gallon bucket will hold about 30 pounds of wheat.
When you are ready to grind your wheat for flour, you can use a grain mill or even a coffee grinder. A mill is your best choice, especially if you also grind your own coffee beans because coffee flavored wheat is not as good as you think.
If you use a blender to grind your wheat, what you get is grain chopped up enoug to make a nice hot porridge, but nothing fine enough to make bread. A hand crank mill takes time, but if all you grind is enough wheat for a single loaf of bread, it's not to bad. If you plan to grind enough wheat for the equivalent of 6 loaves of bread at a time, you will want an electric mill.
Find one that won't overheat the grain as it grinds, has adjustable coarseness levels, is easy to clean and use, has replacement parts available, and is made by a company that honors it warranty.
Only grind what you need that day or that week so the wheat stays fresh and lasts longer.