An ancient hulled wheat that tolerates poor soils and cool seasons, yielding nutty-flavored grain with minimal inputs.
Triticum spelta · also called dinkel wheat, hulled wheat
6–8 weeks before the first hard frost, so seedlings establish before dormancy.
As soon as soil can be worked, 4–6 weeks before last frost.
Spelt thrives where modern bread wheat struggles — thin, low-fertility soils and cool, wet springs — making it a practical choice for gardeners who want a storable, whole-grain staple from a small plot. Its thick hull protects the grain from many storage pests without chemical treatment.
A little history. Spelt is a hexaploid wheat (carrying six sets of chromosomes) whose grain remains tightly enclosed in a tough hull after threshing, requiring a separate dehulling step before milling — a trait shared with emmer and einkorn but absent in modern bread wheat.
Sow seeds 1½ inches (38 mm) deep, and aim for 3 inches (8 cm) between plants once thinned. Cover seed with 1.5–2 inches of firm soil and press down; keep seedbed moist until shoots emerge — do not let the surface crust over. Seedlings emerge in 5–10 days.
Water at establishment; once rooted, rely on rainfall except during grain fill in dry spells. Water when water if the top 2 inches of soil are dry during tillering (the stage when side shoots emerge from the base) or grain fill. Aim for about 1 inch per week during active growth.
Top-dress (scatter fertilizer over the soil surface and water in) once in early spring as growth resumes. What to use: low-nitrogen compost or a balanced organic granular; excess nitrogen promotes lodging (stalks falling over) rather than grain yield.
It's ready when heads turn golden-straw and the stems below the head are fully dry; press a kernel with your thumbnail — it should be hard and not dent. Moisture content should be at or below 14% before storage. Cut stalks at the base with a sickle or shears when fully ripe and dry. Bundle into sheaves and stand upright to finish drying for 1–2 weeks before threshing. Thresh by beating bundles against the inside of a barrel or bin.
Dehull using a hand dehuller or by rubbing between two rough surfaces, then winnow. Store whole grain in sealed containers in a cool, dry place — below 60 °F (16 °C) and below 12% moisture — for up to 2 years.
Spelt is a single annual crop per season; succession sowing is not applicable. Plan one fall or one spring sowing per bed per year.
Winter-type spelt is sown in fall, overwinters as a low rosette of leaves, and resumes growth in early spring — this cold period is required for the plant to shift into reproductive growth and produce a grain head the following summer.
Hairy Vetch
Vetch banks nitrogen in root nodules, but that nitrogen is released mostly for the following season as the roots break down. Sow it with or after spelt and turn it under before the next crop, not expecting a boost to the standing grain.
Crimson Clover
Undersown into an established stand, crimson clover holds soil over winter and stores nitrogen that becomes available to the NEXT crop once its roots decay. Sow it after the grain is well tillered so it does not crowd young seedlings.
Field Pea
Field peas are a long-standing partner in grain mixes: they climb the stems for support and bank nitrogen that mostly feeds the following season. Keep the seeding rate low, since a heavy pea stand can pull the grain over.
Sweet Corn
Corn stubble carries the same fungus that causes head blight in spelt, bleaching spikelets and spoiling grain. Do not plant spelt into last year's corn ground or beside a standing corn patch; leave at least two seasons between them.
Barley
Barley hosts the same rusts, powdery mildew, and aphids that trouble spelt, so side-by-side rows let problems build in both. Grow other grains in a separate bed and respect the two-year gap between grass-family crops.
Give grasses and grains 2 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The pea and bean family, the squash family or the tomato family thrive in this ground next season.
Spelt is a heavy feeder that leaves behind straw and fine roots but little fertility. Keep all grass-family grains — wheat, barley, oats, corn — out of this bed for 2 years. Follow with legumes (beans, peas) to rebuild nitrogen, then cucurbits or nightshades.
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