Rye and its parts. Spring rye. Types of rye, names and photographs

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Photo. Secale cereale L. - Spring rye

Systematic position.

Family Poaceae Barnhart, genus Secale L., species Secale cereale L. - Cherepanov S.K., 1995.
The intraspecific classification of rye, proposed by V.D. Kobylyansky, includes five subspecies: subsp. cereale, subsp. vavilovii (Grossh.) Kobyl., subsp. tetraploidum Kobyl., subsp. derzhavinii (Tzvel.) Kobyl., subsp. tsitsinii Kobyl.

Biology and morphology.

2n=14. An annual herbaceous plant. It has a fibrous root system, consisting of 3-4 embryonic (primary) roots formed during seed germination, and nodal (secondary) roots extending from underground stem nodes in the area of ​​the tillering node. The main primary tillering node is located at a depth of 0.5-2 cm, and it is associated with the length of the mesocotyl (underground internode) connecting the caryopsis to the node. The resistance of rye varieties to root lodging largely depends on the degree of development of the root system and the strength of its adhesion to the soil. The stem is a hollow straw, consisting of 3-7 internodes, separated from each other by nodes. Forms with an upper internode have been found. The height of plants of cultivated varieties of rye is 80-180 cm, in different forms it varies from 10-15 to 300 cm. The color of the stem of vegetative rye is green, with a bluish tint due to a waxy coating. There are forms without a waxy coating. Wax coating does not have a protective effect against the penetration of fungal pathogens into the stem tissue. When mature, the stems are yellow or colored to varying degrees by anthocyanin. The surface of the stem is bare, slightly pubescent under the spike, but forms without pubescence are often found. The leaf consists of a sheath tightly covering the stem, a linear-lanceolate leaf blade with a tongue and ears at the base. The tongue (ligula) of rye is horizontally cut and located at the junction of the sheath and the leaf blade; By tightly fitting the stem, it prevents moisture and insects from entering. Plant forms with an oblique tongue and without a tongue (non-ligulous rye) are identified. It has been established that the size of the second leaf from the top can be used to judge the foliage of plants, since its size is equal to or close to the size of the average leaf. Long, narrow leaves are characteristic of more drought-resistant forms; wide, short leaves are most often found in low-productive, relatively late-ripening forms that are prone to powdery mildew. The inflorescence is a complex spike of incomplete type (without an apical spikelet). On each ledge of a segment of the spike shaft there is one two, less often three, flowering spikelet. The two lower flowers are sessile, the third flower is pedunculated. Each productive stem usually produces one ear. The spike rachis of rye is not branched, but hereditarily branched forms are found. The color of the ear in cultivated varieties is white (straw-yellow), in old local populations there are red-red ears, in weedy field rye - white, red-red, brown, black. Ears of rye are covered with a waxy coating, and the degree of expression can vary, depending on the varietal characteristics and climatic conditions. A strong waxy coating is typical for varieties grown in areas with hot summers, as it protects the ear from overheating, reflecting some of the incident sunlight. The fruit of rye is an oblong or oval-shaped grain, compressed from the sides. The color of rye grain, depending on the combination of color, thickness and transparency of the seed and fruit coats and the color of the aleurone layer, can be white, yellow, green in various shades, blue, purple, brown. Weight of 1000 grains is 30-45 g.

Ecology.

Winter rye is a winter-hardy plant (it tolerates frosts of 30-35°C in winters with little snow), and is quite drought-resistant. Since winter hardiness is a complex trait, and includes frost resistance, resistance to damping off, often associated with resistance to snow mold, as well as resistance to ice crust and bulging, it can be increased through agrotechnical measures (reclamation, high-quality soil cultivation, timely sowing). Frost-resistant plants are distinguished by a number of morphobiological features. They have narrow and short rosette leaves of a small-cellular structure and a flattened bush shape, a thicker outer wall of the epidermis, a short mesocotyl and, accordingly, a deeper location of the tillering node. Frost-resistant plants are characterized by slower growth in autumn, a relatively higher concentration of dry substances in the cell sap and more economical expenditure on growth processes and respiration. The growing season is 120-150 days (autumn 45-50 days and spring-summer 75-100 days). Rye grows on various soils, except swampy ones; the best soils are chernozems. Allogamous (cross-pollinating) wind-pollinated plant. Under favorable conditions, its flowering occurs 7-10 days after heading. In cultivated rye varieties, the anthers usually crack within 1-2 minutes. after leaving the flower, and the pollen is carried by the wind. A feature of rye, like all wind-pollinated plants, is the large amount of pollen produced (up to 60 thousand pollen grains in one flower). In rare cases, the anthers crack before they are completely released from the flower, and self-pollination occurs. The flower is open for 12-30 minutes, but the pollen spills out of it in 2-4 minutes. The flowering of the ear begins in the middle part and, gradually spreading up and down, lasts 4-5 days, with the upper flowers fading before the lowest ones. Each plant blooms for 7-8 days; the ear of the main stem blooms first. In field conditions, at optimal air temperatures (12-15°C), flowering begins at 5-6 a.m. in the southern and central regions of the Russian Federation and at 7-10 a.m. in the northeast and northwest. During the day there are 2-3 maximums, but the most intense flowering occurs in the morning hours. During the period of mass flowering, a pollen cloud forms over the rye crop in warm, dry weather. The viability of pollen in direct sunlight lasts for 15 minutes, in the shade - 4-8 hours, in artificial conditions at low temperatures and high humidity - 1-3 days. In rainy, cloudy weather, pollen is poorly carried by the wind and does not fall on the flowers, as a result of which the throughgrain increases sharply, reaching 30-40% or more. Crossgrass can also be caused by genetic factors. The self-fertility of rye is insignificant and averages 0-6%. From the moment pollen hits the stigma of the pistil until the pollen tube penetrates the cavity of the embryo sac, about 30 minutes pass, and the entire fertilization process lasts 6-8 hours. Unfertilized ovaries retain the ability to pollinate and fertilize for a relatively long time - up to 14 days. It has been established that the decisive factors for the high yield of winter rye are the number of productive stems per 1 m2 and the weight of grain per ear. The density of the stem stand and the number of productive stems per unit area are adaptive traits that characterize the biological resistance of varieties, depending on winter hardiness, drought resistance, resistance to diseases and pests, etc. Resistance to lodging of rye plants, like other grain crops, is associated with plant height and the strength of the stem, the power of the root system and the weight of the ear. 4 types of short-stemmed rye have been identified. The ability of rye to germinate in the ear and the associated alpha-amylase activity are varietal characteristics. Forage varieties of rye used for green fodder and hay in the spring-summer period are characterized by rapid growth, high bushiness, good foliage, the ability to regrow after mowing, and high nutritional value of green mass. They have a thin, non-coarse straw. They are resistant to lodging and respond well to treatment with retardants, which increase resistance to lodging during seed production.

Spreading.

In terms of area sown, rye ranks eighth in world agriculture after wheat, rice, barley, corn, oats, millet and sorghum. Rye, mainly winter rye (99.8%), is cultivated in almost all agroclimatic zones of the Russian Federation (Volga, Volga-Vyatka, Central and Ural economic regions), in Belarus, Ukraine, and the Baltic countries. In culture since the 1st-2nd millennium BC in the Dnieper, Dniester, Oka basins and in Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark. Spring rye is grown in small areas in Eastern Siberia (Transbaikalia) and mountain areas in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. The main producers of rye are also Poland and Germany; it occupies a significant place in agriculture in the Scandinavian countries, Canada and the USA. In 2001 The area sown with rye in farms of all categories in the Russian Federation amounted to 3,636 thousand hectares (7.7% of the sown area of ​​all grain crops). Currently, about 50 varieties of winter rye and 1 variety of spring rye (Onokhoiskaya) have been zoned. The main varieties of winter rye: Bezenchukskaya 87, Valdai, Volkhova, Vyatka 2, Dymka, Kirovskaya 89, Orlovskaya 9, Radon, Saratovskaya 5, Saratovskaya 7, Talovskaya 15, Talovskaya 29, Talovskaya 33, Chulpan, Era. Breeding institutions: Northwestern Research Institute of Agriculture of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Krasnoyarsk Research Institute of Agriculture, Samara Research Institute of Agriculture named after N.M. Tulaikova, Stavropol Research Institute of Agriculture, Zonal Research Institute of Agriculture of the North-East named after. N.V. Rudnitsky, All-Russian Research Institute of Legumes and Cereals, Ural Research Institute of Agriculture, Tatar Research Institute of Agriculture, Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture, Bashkir Research Institute of Agriculture.

Economic importance.

Rye is the second grain crop after wheat. The grain contains 12-14% protein (lysine in protein is about 4%). The technological qualities of rye grain are assessed by their resistance to activation of enzymes of the carbohydrate-amylase complex. The viscosity of the flour-introducing suspension is determined on an amylograph, and the falling number is determined on a Hagberg-Perten device or its modifications. Varieties used to improve the quality of flour must have an amylograph value of over 600 units. and the number of falls is more than 200 s. Varieties whose flour is suitable for baking bread in its pure form - 300-600 units, respectively. and 140-200 s. Grain is used to produce flour, starch, molasses, animal feed, etc. Green mass, hay and grain are fed to animals. Grown in field crop rotation. The best predecessors are clean and occupied fallow, annual and perennial grasses, flax. Fertilizers: 20-40 tons of manure, 20-30 kg N (in spring feeding), 60-90 kg P 2 O 5 and 40-60 kg K 2 O per 1 ha. They are sown in a narrow-row or conventional row method, the sowing rate is 4.5-6 million viable seeds per 1 ha (200-250 kg), sowing depth is 4-6 cm. They are harvested using a separate method and direct combining. Grain yield is about 2 tons per hectare.

Literature.

State register of selection achievements approved for use. M. 2004. P.11-12
Zhukovsky P.M. Cultivated plants and their relatives. L. 1971
Private selection of field crops. Ed. Konovalova Yu.B. M.1990. P.36-59
Cherepanov S.K. Vascular plants of Russia and neighboring countries. SP-b. 1995. From 759-760

© Gashkova I.V.

Latin name.

Rye is a genus of annual or perennial herbaceous plants of the flowering department, class Monocots, order Poaceae, family Poaceae (Secale).

• You can distinguish these grain crops from each other already at the stage of small sprouts: if you pull out a small rye plant and look at its roots, you will find a root divided into four root parts, but in wheat the root is divided into three primary roots.
• The color of the leaves of rye and wheat also differs - rye usually has leaves of a bluish-blue color, while those of wheat are bright green, however, this feature is observed only before the ears ripen.
• Ears of rye and wheat also have differences in structure: in rye the inflorescence is represented by a two-row spike, while the inflorescence of wheat is a complex spike.
• Wheat flowers have the ability to self-pollinate; rye flowers are pollinated by the wind.
• Wheat was cultivated by humans much earlier than rye.
• If we consider these cereals by species diversity, then wheat has the largest number of species and varietals among the cereals known today. Rye cannot boast of so many varieties.
• In addition to standard carbohydrates, proteins and various dietary fibers, which are also present in wheat grain, rye grain also contains a set of vitamins PP, E, B. That is why rye bread is considered a very healthy dietary product.
• Rye is less picky about the quality of the soil, so its fibrous roots penetrate 2 meters deep, receiving the substances necessary for growth. This feature makes it possible to sow rye on sandy, “acidic” or infertile soils, obtaining consistently high yields. Wheat is more “capricious” and demanding on soil quality.
• Rye crops are resistant to frost and severe droughts, while wheat often freezes at low temperatures and loves moderate moisture.

A hybrid of wheat and rye is called triticale:

Hybrid of wheat and rye (triticale)

Cereals: rye, wheat, barley, oats, triticale (hybrid of wheat and rye)

Rye and barley: differences

• A barley sprout has 5-8 primary roots, while rye has 4.
• The leaf of cereals at its base has double-sided horns or, as they are otherwise called, ears. In rye they are short and lack cilia. Barley has very large ears, crescent-shaped.
• The rye ear has two flowers on each ledge of the rod; three graceful flowers “sit” on the rod ledges of barley.
• The glumes of rye are narrow, with a pronounced single nerve-groove. Barley scales are slightly wider, linear, without a visible groove.

Types of rye, names and photographs

Modern classification identifies 9 types of rye:

1. Mountain rye ( Secale montanum)
2. Wild (forest) rye ( Secale sylvestre)
3. Rye Vavilov ( Secale vavilovii)
4. Rye Derzhavin ( Secale derzhavinii)
5. Anatolian rye ( Secale anatolicum)
6. African rye ( Secale africanum)
7. Rye (cultivated) ( Secale cereale)
8. Rye Secale ciliatiglume
9. Weedy field rye ( Secale segetale)

A more detailed description of the varieties of rye:

• Mountain rye ( Secale montanum)

perennial plant 80-120 cm high. The species of rye, listed in the Red Book, is distributed in small populations in Abkhazia, the Caucasus and the Krasnodar Territory, as well as in southern Europe and the countries of South-West and Central Asia.

• Wild (forest) rye ( Secale sylvestre)

an annual cereal growing in European countries, Asia Minor and Central Asia, the Caucasus and western Siberia.

• Rye Vavilov ( Secale vavilovii)

an annual plant growing in Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus.

• Rye Derzhavin ( Secale derzhavinii)

a perennial forage crop created by Professor Derzhavin by crossing seed and mountain rye.

• Anatolian rye ( Secale anatolicum)

perennial forage grass, common in the foothill regions of Transcaucasia, the Balkans, Greece, Bulgaria, Iraq, Iran and the central part of Turkey (Anatolia). Used for grazing livestock and making hay.

• African rye ( Secale africanum)

a type of rye native to the southern African continent.

• Rye or cultural ( Secale cereale)

annual or biennial cereal, cultivated in winter or spring. A widespread crop with high food, agricultural and feed purposes, uniting about 40 varieties. Cultivated in temperate latitudes in Russia, Germany, Poland, Scandinavian countries, Belarus, Ukraine, Canada, America and China.

• Rye Secale ciliatiglume

a type of rye that grows in Turkey, Iraq, Iran.

• Weedy field rye (Secale segetale)

this species grows in the countries of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and the Caucasus.

Rye: benefits, medicinal properties, vitamins and minerals

Rye is one of the most useful cereal plants, a unique dietary product, a storehouse of vitamins and minerals that are essential for the human body. The composition of rye grains includes:

• B vitamins involved in basic metabolic processes, preventing aging, supporting immunity;
• vitamins A and PP, which protect the body from aging and maintain the integrity of the cell structure;
• folic acid, which has a general strengthening effect on the body and supports the functioning of the heart and blood vessels;
• sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus;
• lysine and threonine, amino acids important for tissue growth and repair;
• Sprouted rye grains contain zinc, selenium, iron and manganese.

The use of rye products, decoctions and preparations containing rye can successfully combat many dangerous diseases:

• oncological diseases;
• arthritis, arthrosis and inflammation of bone tissue;
• cardiovascular diseases;
• diseases of the liver, gall bladder, kidneys and genitourinary system;
• diseases of the pancreas and thyroid gland, including diabetes;
• allergies, bronchial asthma;
• skin diseases.

The most valuable rye flour is wallpaper (unrefined, with the shell of the grain), it retains all the beneficial properties of whole grain.

Contraindications for rye

• Rye contains gluten protein, which is contraindicated for people with gluten intolerance.
• Rye is also contraindicated for people with gastritis with high acidity and ulcers of the stomach and intestines.

Use of rye and beneficial properties

Rye is a very valuable and healthy cereal that is widely used in cooking and medicine. Various and very healthy porridges are cooked from rye (whole) grains, dietary bread is baked from rye flour, and they also create the main component for the traditional and delicious Russian drink - kvass. In Rus', slightly sour and original-tasting rye flour was used to make pancakes, holiday pies or gingerbread cookies.

In some areas, “green porridge” is still prepared from young rye grains, which is considered an indispensable dish on the newlyweds’ table and symbolizes happiness and prosperity.

In cities in Canada and in some states of America, rich whiskey is made from rye.

Rye straw is used as livestock feed or as bedding for animals, it is used to mulch the soil under strawberries and is used in growing mushrooms.

Rye straw is needed as a raw material for making adobe bricks. Only with rye straw can you get amazingly tasty soaked apples.

In the field of medicine, infusions and decoctions are prepared from healthy cereals, and extracts from rye grain are produced. This cereal has a general strengthening, tonic effect on the body, stabilizes the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, softens cough, alleviates rheumatoid conditions, treats abscesses and relieves tumors.

Rye bran is useful in the treatment of high blood pressure, anemia, and diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Sprouted rye - benefits and vitamins

Rye sprouts are a plant product with amazing properties that competently and very quickly compensate for the lack of minerals and vitamins in the human body. These juicy, slightly sour sprouts will be an excellent addition to salads, cereals or vegetable vinaigrettes. Sprouted rye perfectly stimulates the intestines, normalizing its disturbed microflora and relieving constipation, cleanses the body of accumulated toxins and excess cholesterol.

Rye sprouts

Sprouted rye grains are indicated for gastroenterological problems; they normalize the functions of the hematopoietic and nervous systems, help strengthen the immune system and increase metabolism. Sprouted rye is recommended for use by patients with diabetes, pregnant women, allergy sufferers, the elderly and people suffering from high obesity. Sprouted rye has a beneficial effect on the organs of vision, skin, hair and teeth. The only contraindication for eating rye sprouts is gluten intolerance.

How to germinate rye at home?

To germinate rye, you should choose grains of which you are absolutely sure of their quality. Healthy rye grains, not treated with chemicals and thoroughly washed, must be spread in a thin layer (no more than 1 cm) on a cotton cloth laid in a container, covered with a piece of the same cloth on top. Then the prepared grain is poured with water at room temperature so that it covers the grains by 1 cm. The plate can be placed in a dark place at a temperature no higher than 22-24 degrees.

Within 1-2 days, tender rye seedlings 1-2 mm long will hatch, which after washing with cold water can be eaten.

Growing winter and spring rye: sowing, fertilizers, care

To grow rye as a crop, an elevated, open area is chosen; maximum lighting is necessary for the grains to fully ripen.

For winter and spring rye, it is necessary to apply organic fertilizers (manure, compost) and mineral fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium).

Sowing winter rye carried out one and a half months before the onset of persistent cold weather. To do this, sorted seeds with high levels of purity and germination are selected and treated to avoid the occurrence of diseases. Seeds are planted in pre-designated rows 15 cm apart to a depth of 5-7 cm.

Sowing spring rye carried out in the spring, at the earliest possible time, in dug up and fertilized soil. Seeds germinate at low temperatures above zero, and seedlings are not afraid of frost.

Rye is an excellent green manure

Rye is considered one of the most valuable green manures after mustard. The aggressive plant does not tolerate competitors and, thanks to its rapid growth, effectively suppresses annual and perennial weeds, and also prevents the development of pathogenic microorganisms. Rye has an excellent structuring effect on heavy, clayey soils, loosening the soil with deep, powerful roots and enriching the soil with nitrogen.

When and how to sow rye as green manure?

As a green manure, rye is sown in early September, scattering the seeds evenly over the entire surface of the plot, or sown in rows, every 15 cm. The sowing rate is 2 kg per 1 sq.m. Before the onset of frost, rye seedlings grow up to 20-25 cm. In winter, the grain retains snow and prevents the soil from freezing to a greater depth. In spring, seedlings quickly gain green mass. The beginning of heading is the most favorable time for incorporating rye into the soil, when the plant contains the maximum amount of nutrients. Then the rye is crushed and buried to a depth of no more than 4-5 cm, otherwise the green mass may turn sour. After 2 weeks, the main crop can be planted on weed-free, loose, fertile soil. The only drawback of such agricultural technology is that rye significantly dries out the soil, so plants planted after it require regular watering.

• A familiar and simple cereal, however, can be considered a rather interesting plant. At the end of the last century, Luxembourg occupied a leading position in the world in the incidence of bowel cancer. After adding diseased bran and rye bread to the diet, the city quickly found itself at the end of this terrible list.
• In Rus', ears of rye tied into a bundle drove away evil forces from newborns and protected them from the “black eye” by placing oven-dried cereal under a mattress in a cradle.
• Rye flour is an excellent remedy for boils and abscesses: a cake of it is applied to the sore spot, and within a day or two relief comes.

In the southern regions of the country, where wheat for a long time - the main, leading crop; with proper agricultural technology, even higher yields are obtained. For example, the new winter wheat variety Bezostaya-4 gave an average yield of 40 centners per hectare on collective farm fields. And at the state farm named after. Kalinin, Korenevsky district, Krasnodar region, the same variety of winter wheat yielded 48.6 centners per hectare. On one of the fields of the state farm, with an area of ​​149 hectares, the harvest was even 54.5 centners per hectare. The yield of another new variety - Bezostaya-41 - in 1959 reached 50-60 centners per hectare in variety testing areas. In Siberia and Kazakhstan, on newly developed virgin and fallow lands, the sown area is mainly occupied by spring wheat, the yield of which in 1958 on a number of state farms exceeded 40 centners per hectare.

After wheat, the largest cultivated area in the USSR is occupied by rye. And throughout the world, its cultivated area is in fourth place - after wheat, rice and corn. To soil and climatic conditions rye less demanding than wheat. It also grows on sandy soils, and produces high yields on sandy soils. In addition, it is more frost-resistant: its crops have crossed the Arctic Circle and now reach 69° N. w. Compared to the pre-revolutionary period, wheat crops in the USSR decreased due to an increase in wheat crops. But in many parts of the country it remains the main food crop.

Among the rye varieties there are both winter and spring varieties. The main area under rye crops in the USSR is occupied by winter varieties, as they are more productive. The best precursor for winter rye is fertilized fallow.

In many regions of the European part of the USSR, winter rye yields in height and stability significantly exceed spring grain yields. For example, the leading collective farms of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Moscow, Kursk and other regions receive rye yields of 40 and 50 centners per hectare.

Black bread is made from rye grain. Rye straw is used in agriculture: it is used as bedding for livestock, and mats for greenhouses are knitted from it. Rye straw is also used in industry as a raw material for the production of paper and cardboard.

Winter rye is sometimes grown for spring feeding of productive cattle, since rye produces an abundance of high-quality green fodder earlier than other plants.

Oats grown mainly for livestock feed. But many food products are also produced from it: cereals, oatmeal, oatmeal (rolled oats).

Oat grains are very nutritious. The grain of filmy varieties contains up to 18% protein, about 6% fat and up to 40% starch. Hull oat grain contains up to 23% protein. Oatmeal is well absorbed by the animal's body and is especially useful for young animals. Oatmeal is a dietary product for children. Oat straw and chaff are used as livestock feed. Oat straw is more nutritious than other grain straws.

Most known species of oats grow among wild flora. The cultivated type of oats - the so-called seed oats - is divided into filmy varieties and naked varieties. There are a lot of varieties of oats, and each of them is adapted to certain soil and climatic conditions.

In the USSR, mainly filmy varieties are cultivated. They were bred by Soviet breeders by selecting from ancient local varieties.

Oats produce the highest yields in mild climates and sufficient precipitation. It is less demanding on soil than other grains; Therefore, as a rule, any crop rotation ends with sowing oats. Compared to other grains, oats are the least valuable crop. Therefore, the expansion of plantings of other grains, such as corn, should come primarily through a reduction in plantings of oats.

Occupies a significantly smaller cultivated area than wheat, rye or oats in the Soviet Union barley. It is used mainly for livestock feed, in the brewing industry and for making barley coffee. But there are countries, for example Tibet, where barley is the main grain plant, since other grains do not ripen there: of all grains, barley is the fastest ripening plant.

Cereals, the grain of which is used not for flour or for baking bread, but for making porridge, are called cereals. Millet is the most important cereal grain in the Soviet Union. Cultivated millet is divided according to the shape of the panicle into three main groups: spreading - with long branches and a loose panicle structure, drooping - with long branches that fit tightly to each other, and compact - with short branches that fit very tightly to each other. Millet grains are covered with films and after they are dehulled (cleaned), food millet is obtained.

Among all cereals, millet is the most drought-resistant crop. Therefore, in the USSR it is most often sown in the southeastern regions of the country. With good care, millet yields reach 60 centners per hectare or more.

Millet produces the highest yields when sown over a layer of virgin soil or sown perennial grasses. Therefore, in farming practice, millet is considered a layer crop. Millet can also be cultivated on soft soils, but they must be free of weeds. Millet seedlings develop very slowly and therefore become heavily clogged with weeds on clogged soils. In addition to virgin soil and sown perennial grasses, row crops are a good predecessor for millet: potatoes and sugar beets. In turn, millet is considered a good predecessor for spring wheat, barley and oats. Millet is very responsive to phosphorus fertilizers.

The best sowing method is wide-row, since millet is a light-loving plant. The seed sowing rate for conventional row sowing is 20-25 kg per hectare, and for wide-row sowing it is half as much; the adaptability of the variety to soil and climatic conditions is also of great importance. Therefore, sowing with varietal and zoned seeds is a mandatory agrotechnical measure. In the USSR, millet sown areas are concentrated in the Kazakh SSR, the Volga region and the Central Black Earth zone. Millet ripens unevenly and falls off easily. Controlling grain losses during millet harvesting is of paramount importance.

For half the world's population, the main food is rice. Rice has the same importance as bread in Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Burma, and Vietnam. It began to be cultivated a very long time ago. In Southeast Asia, rice was known as a cultivated plant already 4-5 thousand years ago. Rice is grown in fields that are flooded with water. But rice is not a swamp plant, but a mountain plant. Its wild species grow, although in a humid climate, but on soil that is not flooded with water. In India, Burma and Vietnam, it was originally cultivated on gentle mountain slopes. Monsoons brought heavy rainfall to these mountains. But since the monsoons are a seasonal phenomenon, with such farming it was possible to harvest only one crop per year. To prevent rainfall from sweeping away the earth from the mountain slopes, stone and earthen ramparts began to be erected around the rice crops. This is how terraces were formed, and the water of monsoon showers lingered on them. For cultivated rice, such abundant moisture turned out to be beneficial. It began to produce large harvests, two or three harvests a year. In terms of productivity, irrigated rice surpasses even millet. Gradually, rice culture descended from the mountains to the valleys, where high-water rivers were used to irrigate crops. Where there are no large rivers, for example on the island of Java, rice is still cultivated on mountain terraces.

With constant flooding of rice fields, the beneficial activity of microorganisms in the soil fades. Therefore, it is better to use shortened flooding: after sowing, 3-4 waterings are carried out, and when the rice reaches waxy ripeness, the water is discharged from the field.

There are now more than 10 thousand varieties of cultivated rice. Soviet breeders developed varieties suitable for our climate. In our country, rice is cultivated in Central Asia, in the Krasnodar Territory, in the south of Ukraine and in the Moldavian SSR. Rice grain is high in nutrients. About 75% of it consists of carbohydrates. Rice straw is a valuable raw material. Thin and durable paper, ropes, ropes, baskets, and hats are made from it.

If you create the best conditions for rice to grow and develop, you can reap an exceptionally high harvest. Until 1958, the largest rice yield was considered to be 170 quintals per hectare. Since 1958, in the People's Republic of China, experimental plots began to produce yields of over 1000 centners per hectare.

Our Chinese friends received such fabulous harvests as a result of thickening the crops, deep tillage and abundant application of mineral and organic fertilizers. Rice culture in China is a transplant crop. Previously, there were about a million rice plants per hectare of crops there; on a hectare of experimental plots there are tens of times more of them - due to transplantation from other plots. With such a sowing density, there is almost no free space between plants. Rice in a thickened area is just ripening on the root, and the area of ​​other areas is freed up for new planting. The grown and strengthened plants were transplanted to the experimental plot in deeply plowed and fertilized soil in several layers. They fertilized it with manure, silt, ground bones, leaves of bast crops, and chemical fertilizers.

But our Chinese friends receive high rice yields not only from experimental plots. For example, in five provinces - Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan and Henan - an average rice yield of 375 centners per hectare was obtained in 1958.

Buckwheat grain is chemically similar to cereal grains. Buckwheat is used to prepare cereals. Therefore, we consider buckwheat in the same section with cereals, although it belongs to the buckwheat family.

Buckwheat- an annual herbaceous plant with a strongly branched, reddish and ribbed, non-lodging stem, up to a meter high. It is cultivated in all temperate countries, but the first place in terms of acreage and gross grain harvest belongs to the Soviet Union.

Buckwheat has the greatest economic importance. The nutritional value of its grain is higher than that of cereal grains. Buckwheat grain contains a lot of iron and organic acids (citric and malic). Its protein and carbohydrates are well absorbed by the body. Buckwheat has good taste.

Buckwheat is the most important honey plant, but the honey it produces is dark. Buckwheat flowering begins from the lower inflorescences, moves to the upper ones and extends in time until harvesting, so the period of honey collection from buckwheat crops is quite long. Buckwheat also ripens unevenly, and ripe grains may fall off. Therefore, buckwheat harvesting usually begins when two-thirds of the grains on the plant have reached full ripeness.

Buckwheat is an early ripening crop. From its germination to ripening it takes from 65 to 80 days. In the southern regions of the USSR, if there is a sufficient amount of precipitation in the second half of summer, with good agricultural technology it can produce high yields even in stubble sowing, that is, in sowing after harvesting.

When sowing in spring, winter rye, wheat, potatoes, beets, and flax will be good predecessors for it. Buckwheat seedlings are sensitive to frost, and its seeds germinate well at a soil temperature of 12-13°.

Buckwheat roots dissolve substances containing phosphoric acid well. Therefore, it is advisable to apply less superphosphate to buckwheat, but cheaper phosphate rock (see article “Fertilizers and their use”). Then, at a rate of 5-6 centners per hectare, it can increase the grain yield by one and a half to two times. Fresh manure or exclusively nitrogen fertilizers cause strong growth of green mass in buckwheat to the detriment of grain formation. If you add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to the soil, the yield of buckwheat increases sharply.

Buckwheat harvests have been low and unstable in the past. Currently, the leading collective farms of Ukraine, Tula, Moscow, Gorky and other regions receive buckwheat yields of 15-25 and even 30 centners per hectare.

The ancestor of modern cultivated rye is the weedy field rye (Secale segetale) of South-West Asia (most likely the north-western part of Iran, the north-eastern part of Turkey and the southern Transcaucasia), which has been infesting local wheat and barley crops since time immemorial.

Cultivated rye evolved from field weeds as a result of the latter's competition with wheat when they grew together in the extreme conditions of the mountain regime. Perhaps field rye, being a weed, accompanied the crops of wheat and, to a lesser extent, barley from the very moment these plants were introduced into cultivation; in any case, the first finds of rye are found only as an admixture in wheat and barley grains. But historical and archaeological data indicate that rye appeared much later than wheat - only in the Bronze Age, which for most countries of Europe, Asia Minor and Asia Minor covers 2 thousand BC. e. Finds of rye grains were also noted on monuments of the Scythian period (IX–III centuries BC).

The movement of rye from the centers of ancient agriculture to the territory of present-day Russia and Western Europe occurred, according to scientists, through the Caucasus. With the advancement of integrated farming and agriculture as its integral part further and further north, the advantages of rye as a more winter-hardy, more hardy and unpretentious plant were discovered more and more clearly. Man moved wheat crops to the north, contaminated with weedy rye, but the wheat fell out in harsh conditions, and the rye brought harvests. The northern farmer relied on natural selection. Rye, put forward not so much by artificial as by natural selection, serves as an example of the origin of a cultivated plant from a companion weed.

Why did rye, accompanying wheat in the crops, gain an advantage over it in the north? Rye, like wheat, is a plant of southern origin, but over a number of millennia it has become much more frost-resistant than wheat. The fact is that wheat is a self-pollinating plant, it self-fertilizes, and the frost resistance genes that arose in individual plants could not be combined into blocks of such genes during reproduction; Rye is a cross-pollinated plant and, due to cross-pollination, can form blocks of frost-resistant genes.

As for the beginning of the cultivation of rye itself, the time of its introduction into culture, in the forest belt of Eastern Europe, according to archaeological data, it dates back to the early Iron Age (900 BC - beginning of AD). At this time here They grew four types of wheat, barley, millet, rye, oats, beans, peas, field peas, flax and hemp. Moreover, the most common crops were soft wheat, barley and millet; rye and oats were grown in very small quantities. The above composition of crops suggests that until the turn of our era, only spring farming was carried out here and, most likely, almost exclusively on cuttings. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

The earliest written evidence of the cultivation of rye in Europe is found in chronicles of the 1st century. n. e., and the first information about the cultivation of this crop in Ancient Rus' is in the chronicles of 1056–1115. It is obvious that rye was known in Rus' earlier, but more ancient significant written monuments have not survived to this day (with the exception of birch bark letters with short messages).

For example, in Zaonezhye, on the islands of Kizhi and Volkostrov, the beginning of shifting agriculture and the cultivation of rye, barley, oats and wheat took place around 900, as established by paleobotanical research.

Over time, the ratio of crops grown in the forest belt of Rus' changed greatly. The land use system developed, the climate changed, becoming colder and wetter. For 1 thousand. e. in agriculture, the role of rye and oats has increased significantly: rye becomes the main bread of the population, oats are already a common find in Russian settlements, along with wheat and barley. By the 13th century. millet crops are significantly reduced. All these changes indicate the formation and development of two-field and three-field farming systems with the obligatory allocation of winter, spring and fallow fields. In addition, the predominance of the pair “winter rye - spring crops” and the presence of an admixture of seeds of characteristic field weeds also indicate a transition in the southern part of the forest belt from a slash-and-burn system to a fallow system.

In the north of the forest belt, winter rye was usually sown both in clearings and in fields, until the twentieth century; there, the predominance of rye over wheat, in our opinion, was due to the established severity of the climate. Winter rye was also intended to insure spring crops (mainly oats) that were more susceptible to negative natural influences; We can also talk about mutual insurance in a pair of winter and spring crops: often in a year of poor harvest, spring crops will give birth well and vice versa - that is, the farmer is still not left without bread. In the event of the death of winter crops (usually damping off or freezing), he has the opportunity in the spring to replant the devastated winter field with spring crops.

The predominance of rye over barley, it seems, reflected the formed taste preferences of the northern population: they clearly preferred rye bread to barley bread. In addition, peasant Rus' fasted, and fasting days accounted for more than half of the Orthodox year; people, in whose diet Lenten food occupied so much time and place, apparently chose rye bread for a reason. As scientists established, already in the twentieth century, “the content of complete proteins, high calorie content, as well as the presence of vitamins (A and B) make rye bread especially valuable when the body does not receive an insufficient amount of meat products.”

In the very north of the agricultural zone, rye replaced barley, which, as a spring cereal with the shortest growing season, is capable of ripening even at the polar border of agriculture, where rye cannot withstand harsh climatic conditions.

By the end of the nineteenth century. rye in the forest belt of Russia acquired even greater importance: from 30 to 60% of the total sown area was allocated for it, while wheat occupied less than 1%. In the Olonets province, the ratio of the areas sown with grain in 1881 was as follows: 44.53% of the sown land was occupied by rye, 41.97% by oats, 13.18% by barley, 0.32% by wheat, buckwheat was sown on only 24 dessiatines (1 dessiatine is equal to 1.0925 hectares). In the Velikogubskaya volost (which included Kizhi villages), crops were sown at the beginning of the 20th century. were in the following ratio: rye - 50.2%, oats - 45.5%, barley - 4.3% of the total crop area. As you can see, the share of barley here is even less than the average for the province; the rest of the crops were apparently sown in small quantities. Rye was the bread of men; oats were mainly used to feed horses. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

In the middle of the twentieth century. the most common grain crops in the forest belt were still rye, oats and barley. This is a brief history of the appearance of rye in Eurasia and its existence in Russia, mainly in its forest part. The current position of rye in world agriculture is as follows: in 2000, at the turn of 2 and 3 thousand, in terms of sown area and gross grain harvest, winter rye occupied 6–7 place among grain crops, inferior to wheat, rice, barley, corn, millet and oats, and provided only 1–1.2% of world grain production. Russia remained and remains the largest “rye power” in the world; in 2000 it produced 26.5% of the world's gross rye grain harvest. At the same time, here, as throughout the world, there is a tendency to annually reduce the sown area allocated to rye.

But the situation in the “rye business” in Russia cannot be called cloudless: the downward trend at the turn of the century turned into a catastrophic decline - from 1981 to 2010. Our area under rye has decreased by 81.9%! The decline stopped only in 2012, when there was a slight, but still increase in the sown area. If earlier Russia could rely on the significant size of its winter wedge, then in modern conditions it has lost this factor of food security. In recent years, there has been a reduction in the production and consumption of rye bread...

As you can see, rye was and is grown in many countries on different continents of the Earth. But only non-black earth Russia of the past, from about the 13th century. to the middle of the twentieth century, can rightfully be called the undivided “kingdom of rye”. So, in the 70s of the nineteenth century. rye was the leading crop in 40 of the 50 provinces of European Russia; moreover, it was cultivated mainly for domestic consumption and was the main cereal of the country. It is interesting that the capital of this “kingdom of black bread” in the 19th century. was Moscow, because in the Moscow province, as of 1881, less wheat was sown than in any other province of European Russia - only 12 acres, accounting for 0.003% of the total sown area, while rye there occupied 55.6% of crops! In this sense, Moscow was truly the people's capital.

The domains of the light-golden queen of the fields in Russia stretched from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean; from Voronezh and Lipetsk, located approximately at latitude 52 degrees, to 69 degrees north latitude in Europe; well, in Siberia they occupied the vast majority of forested arable land, rising north to 64 degrees latitude along the Lena, Vilyuya and Aldan rivers with their tributaries.

Yes, now many, many of our fields are overgrown with weeds and even forest - the gold leaf queen has given up her centuries-old positions. You need to have a fair amount of imagination to imagine your native lands as they were back in the first third of the 20th century. It takes a lot of effort to learn and understand correctly in order for our ancient “rye culture,” which was once and largely unknown even to older Russians, to be resurrected in the soul.

The author came to understand the concept of “rye culture” or even “rye civilization” by living his life on northern soil and growing bread in the exhibition fields of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve, talking with northern farmers, learning from books [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

about the past of the Russian North, finally remembering his grandfather Kuzma Nikitich and his work on the land. Grandfather's house in the Tver province was surrounded on all sides by fields, and each field for us, grandchildren, was like a sea, and most of all among them there were seas of Mother Rye. The seas of rye hid the birds, the hares and foxes, us, and even the cows, if the shepherds didn’t notice - she was tall, boundless...

In fact, if they talk about the “wheat culture” of Ancient Egypt and other ancient civilizations - the “maize culture” of the Mayan tribes, the “barley culture” of the peoples of the British Isles, the “rice culture” of China and Japan - then the cultures of the majority of the agricultural peoples of European Russia can be unite with the word “rye” - both by the similarity of the role of rye in them, and by the similarity of the economic, ideological and behavioral ways of northern farmers. It seems to me that “rye culture” can be understood as common to them, supranational.

Rye bread made from wholemeal flour with natural sourdough ("sour" - in Zaonezhsky) was for the Russian people not only a food product, but also a constant powerful preventative against obesity, heart, nervous and cancer diseases. Natural rye bread, being the basis of a healthy diet, has protected offspring, and, consequently, public health since ancient times.

It is interesting that the ideas about mother rye of the faithful sons of the Russian “rye kingdom” are directly opposite to the opinions about her of the peoples of the more southern “wheat crops”, who considered rye a malicious weed in the crops of their “queen” - wheat, and rye flour - a harmful impurity in wheat flour . Indicative in this regard is the opinion of the famous Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), who wrote about the rye grown at the foot of the Alps, the following: “This is the worst bread and is eaten only when hungry. This plant is productive... remarkable for its heaviness. Spelled (an ancient type of wheat) is added to it to soften its bitterness, but even in this form the stomach has difficulty tolerating it. It grows on any soil and serves as a fertilizer itself.” [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

The names of rye in Persian, Arabic, Afghan, Sart and Turkish indicate that the farmer of South-West Asia has known this plant since ancient times only as a weed in wheat and barley crops. In Persian, rye is called “dzhou-dar”, or “chow-dar” - “grass that contaminates barley”; rye is also called in Turkestan, India, Arabia and Asia Minor. In Afghanistan it is called “gandum-dar” - “grass that infests wheat.” Since ancient times, southern farmers have struggled with rye, strongly preferring wheat to it, even when rye was superior to wheat in yield. It was customary for them to treat rye bread with disdain; In general, this attitude of southerners toward rye continues to this day.

Currently, Western countries and those following in their wake - the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand - consume almost exclusively wheat bread, and Western European countries are also striving to get closer to them in this regard. We can say that the dominance of wheat bread is now one of the signs of globalization in the Western style, it affects even the original “rice states”. But still, in the West there are reasonable forces opposing the dictates of commercial civilization: for example, in Germany, Poland and the Scandinavian countries, rye products are included in the group of healthy and dietary nutrition; in Finland, the state is implementing the “Rye” program, aimed at improving the health of the country’s population.

But we will continue our detailed story about our favorite black bread and mother rye. What is it like, rye, which united many northern peoples and played such a significant role in their fate? Let's now look at this wonderful cultivated plant with our eyes, armed with the knowledge of paleobotany, systematics and other plant sciences.

So, where did mother rye come from? The origin of the plant of the rye genus dates back to the middle and upper Tertiary periods of the Cenozoic era, i.e. it appeared approximately 55.8–23.03 million years ago. At this time, cereals arose on earth, to which rye belongs. According to the accepted taxonomy of plants, our field rye belongs to the family Poaceae (cereals), the tribe (tribe) Hordeae (barley), the genus Secale (rye), and has the specific name Secale cereale (rye), given by the founder of plant taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus. In fact, already in the twentieth century. it was found that rye (Secale cereale) originated from field rye (Secale segetale) and is actually its subspecies; but it is impossible to change the species name in favor of field rye, since Secale cereale is a memorial Linnaean species. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

Within the type of rye, at the end of the 19th century, Körnike identified 5 varieties; later V.D. Kobylyansky also identified five subspecies. N.I. Vavilov, having done a lot of work, established 18 varieties of cultivated rye; at the same time, V.I. and V.F. Antropov described 40 of its varieties. Note that, as a rule, several forms of rye are always found on one field, for example, forms with light yellow, green and brown grain; plants also usually differ in the degree of development of awns (pointed processes of spikelet scales), the degree of pubescence of the stem, the length of the ears, the openness of the grains and other characteristics.

The main region of origin of the genus Secale, as already indicated, is considered to be Transcaucasia with adjacent Northwestern Iran and Asia Minor. Most of the established wild species that have survived here to this day are concentrated in these places. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

Rye is an annual, less often biennial or perennial herbaceous plant, usually bushy at the base, having a fibrous (in appearance similar to an “inverted bush”) root system, and this system is the most powerful among all cereals. The roots of our rye penetrate up to 2 m deep and spread widely to the sides. Under the most favorable growing conditions, one rye plant can form 14 million roots (taking into account four orders of branching) with a total length of 600 km and a total surface area of ​​225 square meters. m! Some sources claim that in terms of the total length of the roots of one plant, rye is superior among all herbaceous plants in the world, and they include it in the list of record holders of the plant world with a result of more than 619 km. The weight of the roots of winter rye per 1 hectare (10,000 sq. m) is 5900 kg, while, for example, that of winter wheat is 3900 kg. It is not surprising that with such a great support in the ground, rye sometimes reaches a three-meter ground height.

Why do we talk in such detail and colorfully about the root system of rye? Because Mother Rye - tall, stately, golden, firmly standing on her native land, her roots firmly and inextricably rooted in her, has become a symbol of Russia, its vitality, beauty and kindness; played a significant role not only in the economic and everyday life of the population, but also in the formation of its aesthetic and even ethical preferences and ideals. Actually, just like in the world, she is a good mother for good children. And the basis of her stature and beauty are amazing rye roots.

The rye stem is a hollow straw consisting of 3–7 internodes, “knees,” connected by nodes. The color of the stem and leaves of growing rye is green, with a bluish tint due to a waxy coating. As it matures, the bluish-green color of the field changes successively to gray-green, yellowish-gray and finally becomes light gold. Scientists call a rye ear an inflorescence “a complex ear of an unfinished type” (it does not have an apical spikelet). The spike consists of two-flowered (less often three-flowered) spikelets attached to the spike shaft one above the other. Each fruiting stem forms one ear. Ripe ears of our Kizhi rye are whitish or straw-yellow in color. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

The fruit of rye is an oblong or oval-shaped grain, laterally compressed, with a longitudinal groove running along the entire body, and fluffy or bare at the top.

Rye is wind pollinated and is mainly a cross-pollinated plant (although in the north of Russia and in the Republic of Buryatia self-pollinating forms of rye have developed, guaranteeing grain production in unfavorable weather during flowering); Like all wind-pollinated plants, during flowering it releases a very large amount of pollen (up to 60 thousand pollen grains in one flower), so that in calm, dry weather a real pollen cloud hovers over the rye fields. Rye usually cannot self-pollinate (self-pollinating plants make up no more than 6% of the total) and, thinned out in a lean year, rye, deprived of fertilization by pollen of neighboring plants, suffers from through-grain (ears with half-empty spikelets appear) or complete infertility.

In Russia, almost exclusively winter forms of seed rye have always been grown (and currently winter rye makes up 99.8% of rye crops in the Russian Federation); spring rye - yaritsa - has long been cultivated only in certain areas, for example in Ukraine, on light soils of the Non-Black Earth Region, in Altai and in the Minusinsk Basin, as well as in those areas of Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia where winter rye freezes out. And winter, as you know, are the forms of cereals that do not spike in the summer when sown in the spring, i.e., they require a whole year to fully develop. [text from the website of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve: http://site]

With a thoughtful consideration of rye - its life cycle and growth characteristics - it seems to me that we can learn for ourselves, following our great-grandfathers, the following life lessons and guidelines.

The other day I received organic rye of an unusual green hue, I was surprised because before that I had only encountered dark brown rye. I suspected that it might not be ripe yet, but after seeing what rye is like, I calmed down: it can be yellow, brown, and even with a purple tint, and shaped like wheat - short and pot-bellied, and long, like oats, and, of course, like my current rye. But I came across grain of a uniform beige-green color, mostly whole, without damage or flaws, quite hard, not raw, which means it’s quite normal.

Raw grain is very difficult to grind, especially if you grind it with stone millstones: the grains will be smeared by the millstones, clog them and can damage the mill. But even if you grind flour from sprouted rye, you cannot bake good bread; it will turn out sticky and moist (but you can make malt from sprouted rye - but that’s another story).

With wheat flour, everything is more complicated, because its properties are influenced by many factors, and this is, first of all, the protein content. And in general, wheat flour can vary greatly depending on the batch; even in a store, flour with the same protein-carbohydrate indicators, but from different manufacturers, actually makes a big difference. Rye flour from batch to batch is approximately the same in its properties, especially when it comes to whole grain flour, which practically does not need resting after grinding and the concept of “strong” or “weak” does not apply to it.

I leafed through Auermann’s textbook and learned some very interesting things about rye flour. In general, it has a lot in common with wheat, despite the fact that the properties of dough made from rye flour are very different from dough made from wheat. Rye flour, like wheat flour, has a high carbohydrate content - about 70%, and a protein content - about 10-11%; it contains gluten, so it is not suitable for people allergic to it. Moreover, rye and wheat proteins have a similar amino acid composition, and rye protein, like wheat protein, contains gluten and gliadin, the very substances that make wheat protein elastic and elastic at the same time. However, dough made from rye flour cannot be called elastic and elastic, it is very sticky and slippery, it is useless to knead it, trying to achieve smoothness, gluten in the usual sense will never develop in it.

The reason for this is mucus (pentosans), which are present in large quantities in rye flour. They are also present in wheat, and in approximately the same quantity as in rye, but wheat pentosans are slightly soluble in water, while rye pentosans are mostly soluble. When rye flour is mixed with water, the same mucus begins to swell and envelop the bek particles, preventing it from forming threads. The rye flour mucilage itself is very moisture-intensive and can absorb almost ten times its own weight in moisture. In addition, they are very viscous, so much so that they surpass even gelatin in viscosity. If we compare a gelatin solution and a solution of rye pentosans of the same concentration, the pentosan solution will be more viscous. At this point I would like to clarify regarding the mucus of ripening rye flour after grinding. It is believed that rye flour (I mean whole grain) does not need to rest and can be used immediately, and bread baked from such flour will be incredibly tasty, an order of magnitude tastier than from flour that has rested. At the same time, after a couple of days of resting, rye flour changes its properties and becomes more moisture-intensive precisely due to the effect of oxygen on pentosans. During ripening, they increase their viscosity, rye flour retains moisture better, the dough, especially hearth products, spread and crack less during baking.

Here, for example, is rye sourdough during the stirring process: it is clear that the rye dough is in no hurry to dissolve in water, despite the large amount of liquid.

It is difficult to achieve uniformity; even with effort, the leaven spreads into large pieces, then small ones, which hold their shape for a long time.

Here's corn dough for comparison. As soon as it comes into contact with water, it begins to disintegrate into grains of flour; it is not restrained by either protein or mucus. The photo on the left is dry cornmeal in water, the photo on the left is corn dough. It can be seen that it simply by itself, only when it gets into water does it begin to disperse in the liquid.

The moisture capacity of rye flour is a merit not only of mucus, but also of protein. It is generally accepted that the protein of rye flour has no practical value because it cannot form the “framework” of the dough, as it does with wheat flour. Scientists even tried to wash rye gluten as an experiment, but they didn’t succeed. At the same time, it is also impossible to say that rye protein does not affect the properties of the dough in any way: it is capable of absorbing large amounts of water, swelling greatly and creating a viscous solution from particles of undissolved protein, mucus, starch and bran particles of grain, thereby actually forming "frame" of rye dough. True, this happens provided that the dough has reached a certain acidity, which is why rye bread is baked with sourdough.

As I wrote above, I got organic grain. I roughly imagined what this was: this means that while the rye was growing, it was not treated with chemicals and poisons, the land on which it grew, accordingly, was cultivated without synthetic fertilizers, and the harvested grain was stored without the use of toxic or, in principle, synthetic substances. In a word, the concept of “organic” for me was very general and meant “no chemistry.” But after talking with supporters of organic farming, I learned a lot of interesting and sometimes even controversial information. In fact, the difference between organic and non-organic is larger and broader - it is in the idea and approach. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Ukrainians - supporters of organic products, who grow cereals in the fields, vegetables and even graze cows on organic lawns, and so they are sure that organic food, in addition to being different in taste, has a different, bigger and better quality. nutritional and energy value. Simply put, organic food makes you feel full faster, while eating less than usual.

“Organic” grain growers treat their crops with herbal infusions (or preparations based on these herbs), which repel insects and destroy fungi and other enemies. It is also believed that annual plowing, which is practiced in “conventional” industrial fields, makes crops more vulnerable to bad weather, this depletes the land and reduces crop yield. Therefore, “organic” soil is fertilized exclusively with natural fertilizers, practically not plowed (or plowed, but not so deeply), and the ears of corn remaining after harvesting are left on the field to overwinter - under the cover of snow they will rot and enrich the soil. To protect the harvested crop from pests without the use of chemicals, it is regularly poured from bag to bag and the bags are lined with aromatic herbs. In general, these are the methods that our grandmothers used, including mine: in the barn where grain and hay were stored, she laid out bunches of yellow tansy, yarrow, St. John's wort and lavender, and the supplies remained safe and sound.

I don’t have that much beautiful rye with a green tint, only a couple kilos, so there’s no point in worrying too much that someone will eat it before me. Before grinding, I sorted through the grain a little, removing what caught my eye: particles of ears, grains of dirt, sunflower seeds and obviously damaged grains. In general, there was very little garbage; by the way, the wheat I got was more weedy.

I ground rye in my mill and now I want to show how it was and what kind of flour was obtained from organic grain. I usually grind wheat at the finest setting, but rye stalls at this setting: the millstones are spinning, the mill is humming, but nothing comes out. I moved the lever from “one” to “three” and saw my first rye flour!

At first it fell out, as usual, and then these things came out. However, the grind is no coarser than that of store-bought flour.

Someone named Masha diligently helped, because it was very important for me that the freshly ground flour be inspected, the grinding and especially the taste assessed.

My mill ground a kilogram of grain in about 5 minutes, and at the same time the flour fell intermittently, that is, there was a time when nothing flew out of the mill, and then a compressed lump of flour jumped out. I think this speaks, after all, about the moisture content of the grain - it is clearly higher than that of wheat. The ground flour turned out to be quite hot, I measured it - the temperature was 56.3 degrees.

The very next day I started a starter using this flour. Finally, my own homemade rye sourdough! Hooray!