How to Grow Barley

Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're going to talk about how to grow barley. Now barley is an ornamental grass or it can be used as a production grass as well for farm lands. And it's used mostly to make beer and different types of alcohol out of it; so it's quite trendy right now. And it has all of the nutritional value of wheat grass. So it's very, very high in all types of minerals and it's really, really healthy. So a lot of people are making their own bread and you can use barley in all types of recipes as well and it's really easy to grow. Okay, now barley is best sown in the winter or early spring because it's more of a cool season crop; it does not want to go above fifty five degrees. And a lot of times if you grow it into the spring it might not even produce seed heads because it's gets too warm in the heat of the summer. So you start it just like any other grass; even the grass in your lawn; you start it from seed either in a container or right in the ground and you want to start it in the winter time and not in the heat of the summer and it'll sprout and grow and it's ready to harvest between forty to fifty five days; that quickly. And it's a green plant; as soon as the leaves are strong and they're, but they turn yellow but a little bit brittle; then you know it's time to harvest. So barley has lots of lots of medicinal qualities as well. It's full of fiber; so it's great digestive aid and it's a great plant to grow even in your garden as a ornamental grass; even if you don't use it for making or you're not making a nice drink out of it; it's still a great plant to have in your garden.