Blue Ethiopian Emmer Wheat is a striking heirloom grain with dusty blue seeds and heads that reaches 4 feet tall in just 90 to 95 days. This ancient wheat variety thrives in cool conditions and offers something rare in the garden: a crop that works equally well as a visual statement in landscape design or as a source of whole grain and flour for the kitchen. Its frost hardiness and compact spacing requirements make it accessible even to gardeners with limited room, while its dual purpose as both ornament and food sets it apart from conventional grain crops.
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3-10
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Moderate
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The dusty blue coloring of both seed and head makes this wheat visually arresting in the garden or dried for arrangements, while the robust 4-foot-tall plants deliver a genuine harvest of edible grain in under three months. Frost hardy and requiring just 1 inch of spacing between plants, it grows efficiently in cool early-spring conditions when temperatures hover between 38 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. You can harvest the grain whole or mill it into flour, giving you flexibility in how you use your crop.
Blue Ethiopian Emmer Wheat serves double duty in the garden and kitchen. The heads are stunning dried for floral arrangements and landscape design, while the grain itself can be eaten whole or milled into flour for baking and cooking.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Plant directly in very early spring. Prepare soil to be fairly fine and well-draining. Space seeds 1 inch apart at a depth of 1/2 to 1 inch. Seeds will sprout in 4 to 8 days under ideal conditions.
Blue Ethiopian Emmer Wheat is ready to harvest 90 to 95 days after planting. Allow the plants to fully mature and the grain heads to dry down completely in the field. Cut the heads when they turn a dusty blue-gray color and feel dry to the touch. Thresh the dried heads to separate the grain from the chaff.
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