11 tips for growing & harvesting wheat

■ Generally, winter wheat can be planted 6-8 weeks before you expect frosts, although some varieties can be planted later.

■ Plant spring wheat as soon as you can work the soil in spring.

■ Wheat seed is sown by broadcasting, which means evenly distributing it over the soil. The seed should then be raked or rolled in to a depth of 5cm for winter wheat and 2.5cm for spring wheat.

■ Plant wheat seeds in a sunny location. If you have trouble with birds, cover with straw after planting to prevent the birds from eating all the seed.

■ Keep the field watered during dry spells.

■ As the wheat grows, the stalks turn brown, and the heads become heavy with grain. Pick a few grains to test maturity – they should be firm and dense.

■ Harvest by cutting the stalks just above the ground with shears.

■ Bind into sheaves the same day as the harvest. Gather a bunch of heads in a bundle and tie them together around the bottom with cord or twine.

■ Cure the grain by stacking the sheaves upright in a dry, well-ventilated space for around two weeks. The grain is cured when it’s hard and crunchy.

■ Thresh to remove the individual grains from the head. The easiest way is to beat the sheaves against the inside of a large, clean rubbish bin.

■ Winnow to remove the chaff from the threshed grain. Pour the grain from one container to another on a windy day, or in front of a fan, to blow the chaff away.

The wrong climate can mean protein levels are too low to make bread