How Much DE to use in Wheat Bags?????

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I have my bags of wheat, foil mylar 11x16 bags, and oxygen absorbers....also have diomatious(spelling???) earth. I have heard that one should put the wheat in a large jar/bucket(i.e. gallon jar) put in some DE and roll it all around untill all the grains are coated. But: How much DE to use per "gallon" of wheat? I don't want to use too much and waste it, or have to wash the wheat before grinding....Help!!

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), April 09, 1999

Answers

Jeanne, Stevens book Making the Best of Basics says use 1 & 1/4 cup per 5 gal. bucket, so that breaks down to 1/4 cup per gallon. Hope that helps. I also used DE on my wheat. Visit Gary Hansen's web site http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/ He has some really good info on wheat and stuff. You do need to put those mylar bags into some sort of air-tight container. Mary

-- Mary Howe (doesnotmatter@thistime.com), April 09, 1999.

Make sure it is FOOD GRADE!! I have been able to find only the "other" grade, the one that says "Danger to humans and livestock" on the package in about 44 pt type!

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (reinzoo@en.com), April 09, 1999.


Here is a source for food grade DE, as well as how to apply it.

http://www.wholewheat.com/Pages/perma3.html

-- justmy (justmy@2cents.worth), April 09, 1999.


Thanks loads! I looked at the perma-guard site mentioned above. They also talked about using DE on CORN. I have already packed my corn and soybeans in the mylar bags with oxygen absorbers... but no DE. Do you think I should repack everything??? I understood that corn and soybeans were not likely to be attacked by insects or have problems in long term storage if the oxygen was removed. What do you think????

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), April 09, 1999.

Buy the canned stuff for God's sake. Why are you people making this into something that is almost impossible to acomplish!!!

-- jolly green giant (jolly@green.giant), April 09, 1999.


Jeanne, the mylar bags with oxy absorbers is sufficient. Insect eggs (if any are there) will not hatch in .05% oxygen. Which is the whole point of packing that way (along with preventing oxidation). The DE would be redundant. So there's no need to re-pack anything.

Once you un-pack a bucket for use, you might want to mix some DE into the grain, but that too would seem unnecessary if you were going to use the grain fairly soon.

jolly green - why do this? Well, it is a lot cheaper than buying canned grains (uh, isn't it? how much is the canned costing you? just curious). The hardest part for me has been figuring it all out, because there are so many different options for storage.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), April 09, 1999.


Food grade DE is obtained locally in any large garden nursery.

One cup to each 5 gallon bucket and a bucket holds about 25 pounds of grain.

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), April 09, 1999.


jeanne ... The spelling is from diatom, a small, silicate protozoa that lived millions of years ago in shallow seas, and STILL inhabits fresh water streams and ponds in CT. It still looks like this (); thakes in food/water at one end, and propells itself by pushing out water at far end. It also has chloroplasts for making sugar from sunlight and CO2, that give it a greenish/brown color, when viewed under a microscope. Sorry; got carried away ... Former science teacher. Eagle

-- Harold Walker (e999eagle@freewwweb.com), April 09, 1999.

As with all operations involving fine dust, wear a mask - even a t-shirt around your mouth and nose is better than nothing.

Doctor Dano

-- Dano (bookem@blacksand.srf), April 09, 1999.


The directions that came with my purchase of PermaGuard D-10 from WholeWheat Enterprises say: "Apply one measuring cup-full of PermaGuard D-10 to 50 lbs of clean, dry grain to be treated. Mix thoroughly, making sure that a light coating covers all kernals." I was pleased with their service and prices.

Juniper

-- Juniper (diatomaceous@earth.com), April 09, 1999.



We have wheat which has been stored in 5 gal. pails for at least 7 years and can't find bug one...no DE or dry ice or whatever...just poured in the pail and stored in a cool place. Besides...aren't we storing to have something to eat...how long do you plan to keep this wheat?? Centuries?? Better to store less and practice using it. Know several people who have now stored wheat but they have never made a loaf of bread let alone tried grind/sifting,etc. Got yeast?

-- MUTTI (windance @train.missouri.org), April 09, 1999.

You do not need to make just bread with wheat. I have grown Wheatgrass for 12 yrs. and 7 in. wheatgrass is amoung the most healthy food in the world. You could survive off of it and it is easy to grow. I will be storing wheatberrys for just this reason. Here is a link to an online wheatgrass book.

Cereal Grass Book

Highly recommended in your Y2K preps. The juice has multiple health uses in a pinch.

-- Brian (imager@ampsc.com), April 09, 1999.


You people are the BEST!!!! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), April 09, 1999.

Jeanne....

Don't wash the D.E. off of your wheat or other grains. It is actually beneficial to the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. It will help eliminate parasites that can be contacted, especially when there is a change in life style, foods, and drinking water sources.

Texas Terri

-- Texas Terri (DeepInTheHeart@Texas.com), April 09, 1999.


DE consists of the spiney skeletons of "diatoms" as were mentioned above. It's an abrasive. This abrasive powder kills adult hard shelled bugs only by getting in the cracks and crevasses of their exo skeletons causing them juice to death. It is not harmful to larva as it has little effect, if any, on soft tissue. It is however, harmful to eyes. Wear eye protection if you are raising any dust. That warning is on the DE boxes that I have. It can also be dusted on growing plants to decrease the bug population in the garden. That's actually the main reason it's sold in nurseries but it just happens to work the same way for storing food.

Me.

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), April 09, 1999.



If you are going to dust your crop with DE, be VERY careful not to dust any flowers or buds that would attract bees. We do not want to kill the bees now do we?

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No, we don't.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), April 09, 1999.


I've also stored some DE for use on carpets in spring. In combination with borax, it is death to FLEAS. It makes a dent in the current generation and stops the next generation cold.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), April 10, 1999.

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