Red oat

Oats are an easily grown crop that succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun. They prefer a poor dry soil and tolerate cool moist conditions. Plants are reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 20 to 180cm, an average annual temperature range of 5 to 26°C, and a pH of 4.5 to 8.6. They thrive on a wide range of soils of ample, but not excessive, fertility. Well-drained neutral soils in regions where annual rainfall is 77cm or more are best. Loam soils are best, especially silt and clay loams. The plants are also reported to tolerate aluminium, disease, frost, fungus, herbicides, hydrogen fluoride, mycobacterium, nematode, rust, SO2, smut, and virus. Oats have a long history of cultivation as a food crop and are believed to be derived chiefly from two species, wild oat (A. fatua L.) and wild red oat (A. sterilis L.). They are widely cultivated for their seed, used as a source of protein, as well as for hay, as winter cover, and are used as a pasture crop in the growing or 'milk' stage. Oats are long-day plants, grown in cool climates in the Old and New World temperate zones, succeeding under variable conditions. Oats usually are not very winter hardy, although winter hardy cvs have been developed. A very hardy plant according to another report, the cultivated oat succeeds as far north as latitude 70°n and is widely cultivated in temperate zones for its edible seed, there are many named varieties. Although lower yielding than wheat (Triticum spp.), it is able to withstand a wider range of climatic conditions and is therefore more cultivated in cooler and wetter areas. Hot dry weather just before heading causes heads to blast and yields of seed to decrease. Self-pollination is normal, but cross-pollination by wind also occurs. If you wish to save the seed for sowing, each variety should be isolated about 180 metres away from other varieties. Oats grow well with vetch but they inhibit the growth of apricot trees[18, 201]. Oats are in general easily grown plants but, especially when grown on a small scale, the seed is often completely eaten out by birds. Some sort of netting seems to be the best answer on a garden scale. Avena sativa, commonly known as common oat, is a cool-season annual typically suited to USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 10. While not a perennial, it is relatively cold-tolerant during its early growth stages and can withstand light frosts, making it ideal for early spring or fall planting depending on the region. Oats grow best in temperatures between 55 and 75°F (13 to 24°C) and are generally sown in the spring in colder zones or in the fall in warmer zones for use as a winter cover crop. Though it won’t survive hard frosts like some perennial grasses, its fast growth and tolerance of cooler conditions make it a popular choice for short-season grain production, as well as for use as green manure, forage, or mulch in regenerative and organic farming systems. References Carbon Farming Information and Carbon Sequestration Information Temperature Converter Type a value in the Celsius field to convert the value to Fahrenheit: Celsius Fahrenheit: The PFAF Bookshop Plants For A Future have a number of books available in paperback and digital form. Book titles include Edible Plants , Edible Perennials , Edible Trees , Edible Shrubs , Woodland Gardening , and Temperate Food Forest Plants . Our new book is Food Forest Plants For Hotter Conditions (Tropical and Sub-Tropical) . Shop Now

Edible Parts: Oil Seed Edible Uses: Coffee Oil Seed - cooked[2, 34, 46, 177]. The seed ripens in the latter half of summer and, when harvested and dried, can store for several years. It has a floury texture and a mild, somewhat creamy flavour. It can be used as a staple food crop in either savoury or sweet dishes. Used as a cereal, it is probably best known as the breakfast cereal porridge but it can also be used in many other ways. The seed can be sprouted and used in salads, the grain can also be ground into a flour and used in making biscuits, sourdough etc. It is fairly low in gluten, and so is not really suitable for making bread. The seed is an especially good food for convalescents and people with stomach problems. Oat flour produced in the dry-milling operation currently is used as an antioxidant in food products. Oat flour inhibits rancidity and increases the length of shelf-stability of fatty foods such as vegetable oils. Whilst cultivated oats average about 17% protein, scientists screening thousands of samples of cultivated and wild species found that the wild species averaged 27% with some forms ranging up to 37%. Oats are also one of the cereals used as a basic ingredient for making whisky. Oats are harvested when grain is in the hard dough stage and straw is slightly green (when the moisture content of the grain is 14% or less). If too ripe, shattering causes seed loss. Crop is usually cut with binder and left in the field until dry and then threshed. In mechanized societies, oats are combined directly from standing grain. For this type of harvesting, crop must be fully ripe, usually when the straw has lost greenness and glumes have become white. Crop may be combined from windrow, or cut with a header harvester when the crop is dead ripe. Seeds are threshed and cleaned by winnowing, and artificially dried to below 14% moisture for storage. The roasted seed is a coffee substitute[177, 183]. An edible oil is obtained from the seed, it is used in the manufacture of breakfast cereals. References More on Edible Uses

Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.