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| Van Gogh 'Sheaves' |
Kootenay Country Fair is one week from today at Fort Steele, Sunday September 11th.
Any day is an interesting day at Fort Steele however and in the last week or so, the crop of heritage Red Fife Wheat has been cut, tied into sheaves and 'shocked'. The sheaves are hand placed into stooks to allow the grain to dry before threshing. Fort Steele's reaper binder was put to work to bring in the harvest the old fashioned way and a pretty sight it makes in the front field.
It is wonderful to see this crop. Sharon Rempel spent quite some time at Fort Steele in the 1980's making an inventory of remaining heritage plants on site and Sharon is credited for raising the awareness of this particular variety of wheat. More about her work with heritage seeds can be found at:
http://www.grassrootsolutions.com/heritage-wheat/varieties.html
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| Three little awns at the top of the head of Red Fife Wheat are characteristic of this heritage grain. |
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| The reaper binder at Fort Steele |
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| Stooks and stubble resembling those in Van Gogh's painting |
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