Rye is a grain. The German people planted almost all rye, for bread and for the straw. Rye will grow in soil that is very poor. It does not yield as much as wheat as it only produces about 30 bushels per acre. It is planted just before winter so that it has a chance to germinate and grow an inch or so before the cold weather. When it gets cold, it stops growing, but it resumes its growth in the spring. It is ready usually near the end of June. It is cut with a sickle, tied in bundles called a sheath and stacked in a pile in the field called a shock. When it is dry it can be taken in the barn and processed when there is time.

A flail separates the seed from the rest of the plant. This is called threshing. The seed is then winnowed which means the seed casing is removed, using wind, from the seed. Then the seed can be ground into flour.

The straw, the part of the plant that is left when the seed is removed, was just as important as the seed. The rye straw has a cellulose in it, which is unpalatable to animals such as mice. Therefore you could stuff your mattresses with the straw and be reasonably sure the animals wouldn’t make a nest with it. You could also use it for thatching, which is using straw for covering the roof. You could also make baskets from the straw with lids, store your food in it and be reasonably sure your food would not be eaten by mice and rats. The other use the Germans had for straw is to make straw hats. It you used wheat or oat straw the animals loved it and would eat your hat. It took many hours to make a hat and the last thing you want to happen is have it eaten by some animal. They usually will not eat rye straw.

Grain Cradle: used for harvesting (reaping) rye from the field (has a built in sickle).
Flail: used for seperating (threshing) the rye seeds from the stalks.
Fanning Mill: machine used for seperating (winnowing) the rye seeds from the chaff.

No resources available at this time.