Oat Seeds

It is very possible to grow your own oats, even if you only have a small garden. The introduction of hulled oats has made growing your own oats even easier as they require less processing once harvested.

Oats are an extraordinary food. Growing them is a relatively simple and easy process.

Remove all weeds from the area where you will plant the oats. It is difficult for oats to grow properly and flower if grown in a weed-infested environment.

Before sowing seeds or transplanting plants from a pot to their final location, use a weeding tool to loosen the soil around the weeds, then pull them out of the ground one by one.

It is rich in proteins of high biological value, fats and a large number of vitamins and minerals. It is the cereal with the highest proportion of vegetable fat, 54% unsaturated fats and 46% linoleic acid. It also contains easily absorbed carbohydrates, as well as calcium, zinc, copper, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium; vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and E. In addition, it contains a good amount of fiber, which are not nutrients but contribute to good intestinal function.

It is a plant with reticular roots, powerful and more abundant than in other cereals. Its stem is thick and straight with little resistance to overturning, its length can vary from 50 cm to one and a half meters. Its leaves are flat and elongated, with a narrow and long dark green stem. Its flowers appear in spikes of two or three of them.

It is a plant that has less resistance to cold than barley and wheat.

Sowing: Place the seeds on the ground with a separation of 1 to 2.5 centimeters between each one, lightly cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil approximately 2cm to 2.5cm thick.

Once you have sown the oat seed, keep the area moist.

Germination: The plant takes 5 to 7 days to germinate.

Cultivation: It needs a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight per day.

It requires tilled land, without weeds. With a high percentage of nitrogen and the soil drains sufficiently.

Any time of the year is good to plant, although it is normally planted in winter to harvest in summer.

At first, watering should be abundant (every two or three days). When it has germinated you can space out the frequency of watering, always keeping the soil moist so that the plant does not stop its growth.

If the oats are already wet, do not give them too much water to prevent the area from becoming waterlogged and the roots from rotting.

Harvest: The harvest is carried out when the oat heads are dry.

As you watch the oats grow and begin to develop heads, gently touch some of them to see if they are wet or dry. When they are dry to the touch, it is time to harvest the oats. It usually takes about 6 months from the time the seeds are sown until the oats are ready for you to harvest.

Cut the oat seed heads and separate the grains from the stems. Cut the heads off the rest of the plant with garden shears or simply snap them off with your hands. Place them in a bucket and shake it to open them. Then, remove the beans by hand.

You can separate the grains in other ways, including putting them in a pillowcase and banging them against a wall.