Winnowing Wheat
I had planned to go take a picture of a local business today, but my sick baby has convinced me to stay home and sort through old photos. The summer seemed so busy that sometimes I took pictures to put on the blog and then they got upstaged by a more exciting event. Eventually, I realized that all these pictures might be useful come winter when life slows down and we all hide inside. Pictures of summer life may keep us going long enough to see Spring again!
And now I see that these photos may help me get through sick days as well. So now onto our topic of the day . . . Winnowing Wheat!
After wheat harvest was concluded, my husband Roy went to our local elevator and came home with a few buckets of wheat.
It's hard to get a good picture of the chaff blowing away, so here's a close-up. You can see bits of chaff blowing off to the left side of the picture.
After the wheat is winnowed, Roy spreads it out on a baking sheet and picks through it with tweezers to pull out any big pieces of plant debris. He says that's a good step to put your kids to work on! Then the wheat is ready to be ground into flour!
Here are a few links to pictures of winnowing on other sites (so you won't think I'm making this up): a chinese farmer throws the wheat into the wind and a native american woman drops it from a basket. Believe me, there was a time when winnowing with the wind was a part of mainstream american farming, too, I just couldn't find a picture of it. But here is a funny article about the first winnowing machine. And here is a more serious article on growing your own wheat - the comments are interesting, too.
In searching for "winnowing wheat" I found many sites that were using the term as a metaphor. This old CIA document was probably the most interesting.
And now I see that these photos may help me get through sick days as well. So now onto our topic of the day . . . Winnowing Wheat!
After wheat harvest was concluded, my husband Roy went to our local elevator and came home with a few buckets of wheat.
| The wheat came to us just as it had come out of the combine. Most debris is gone, but there are still some bits of the husk and other chaff among the wheat berries. That is why Roy still had to clean the wheat and an important step is winnowing. Winnowing is the process of separating the chaff (lightweight plant material) from the grain by means of a current of air. When wheat is cleaned at the elevator, it is passed over sieves and then by fans to remove debris and chaff. Before people had sieves and fans (and for those who are simply lacking sieves and fans, like us), the wind was put to work. A typical farmer would throw wheat up into the air. The wheat berries are heavy so they fall back down while the chaff blows away on the wind. Pouring the wheat from one container to another on a windy day is a fully functional method of winnowing. Hence Roy's bucket-to-bucket approach. |  |
It's hard to get a good picture of the chaff blowing away, so here's a close-up. You can see bits of chaff blowing off to the left side of the picture.
After the wheat is winnowed, Roy spreads it out on a baking sheet and picks through it with tweezers to pull out any big pieces of plant debris. He says that's a good step to put your kids to work on! Then the wheat is ready to be ground into flour!
Here are a few links to pictures of winnowing on other sites (so you won't think I'm making this up): a chinese farmer throws the wheat into the wind and a native american woman drops it from a basket. Believe me, there was a time when winnowing with the wind was a part of mainstream american farming, too, I just couldn't find a picture of it. But here is a funny article about the first winnowing machine. And here is a more serious article on growing your own wheat - the comments are interesting, too.
In searching for "winnowing wheat" I found many sites that were using the term as a metaphor. This old CIA document was probably the most interesting.
Posted by Susan at September 10, 2009 
Categories: Farming
Tags: husk wheat wind chaff winnow winnowing
Categories: Farming
Tags: husk wheat wind chaff winnow winnowing
makes me want to sneeze just seeing those pictures
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