Sprouting: 1974 Wheat

Wheat Canned in 1974

I often refer to a bunch of 1974 wheat as my inheritance.  It was canned in 1974, this wheat has been moved countless times over the near 40 years of its existence.  About 4 years ago it my wonderful parents shared a bunch of their old food storage with us (not as many mouths to feed anymore).  We were happy to receive it, in fact at first we though it was too old and decided to open up a bunch of it and spread it in our garden to add some extra nutrients.  Funny thing happened, a wheat started popping up all over in the garden.  Surely if wheat will grow, then the 1974 wheat still has some life to it.

Around this time the LDS Church came out with a study that showed that these long term storage foods have a even great shelf life than was originally thought. Foods Lasting 30 Years or More.  Needless to say we didn't dump all of the food storage in the garden (only a few cans).  We held onto it and later received some more, unfortunately with our current house layout there is not a lot of room for storage (no basements in Texas), so I am sorry to say that this wheat has spend probably 2 years in the garage outside of the ideal storage ranges.  This will affect the quality and nutritional values some. 

Wheat sprouting in cotton bag

So as I have been experimenting with sprouting grains I have used this old wheat and new wheat to compare.  Now both wheat's are Hard Red Winter Wheat's though they probably generations removed with all of the GMO and other cross breading it is still a reasonably fair experiment.

The new wheat sprouted almost 100%.  The older 1974 wheat sprouted at about 20%.  While this little experiment was just tossed together, I think there is something to consider.

1. Even old wheat still has value, while only at 20% sprouting, this does not mean only 20% nutritional value.
2. Long term storage foods need to be rotated.  This wheat should have been used years decades ago.
3. Long term food storage needs to be stored in a cool, dry place. (easy with a basement)
4. Use your old wheat, even if not stored in idea conditions.  Mix it with newer wheat if you must.

Sprouted 1974 Wheat

We will continue to work through this older food as we continue to integrate these long term food storage items in our everyday life.  Every can we open is fresh and still full of nutrition.  Make sure you are implementing these foods in your diet, and rotating your foods to avoid waste.

I will be putting some posts together in the future, showing some food storage solutions for small houses.  This is often a reason given for not having food storage, no room...