SC - choosing a Persona

[Laura C Minnick]

> Bear, I think, posted about the length of days being such that the grain 
> would ripen in the shorter number of days.  It may be a case of choosing
> to 
> harvest when the grain and the weather was at a certain stage rather than 
> risk waiting a few days or weeks longer.  Nanna says they just didn't have
> 
> much bread in Iceland because the grain didn't have time.  The exact 
> reference I got this from was the Scandanavian book of the Time-Life
> series, 
> none of the other books mention it.  then again, none of those provide
> much 
> info at all, just recipes and lots of references to "tradition".
> 
> Bonne
> 
Iceland is an arctic island and as such is subject to much more inclement
weather than the Scandinavian Peninsula.  To equate the two is similar to
saying, you can't grow anything in Alaska because you can't grow anything in
the Aleutian Islands.

Most grains ripen between 90 and 120 days with dependencies on water and
sunlight.  When I was there, the Scandinavian Peninsula appeared to have a
climate very similar to Alaska, which means between May and October you can
raise and ripen a crop of grain.  I think you will also find that the winter
sets in slowly.  The temperatures cool in September as the days shorten and
the snowline moves into the lower elevations in October followed by the
first snowfall in late October.  I'd be more worried about a snap freeze at
the beginning of the summer cycle than harvesting the grain before winter.
Corrections to any of these suppositions are welcomed.

Rye in particular is a good grain for this environment.  It has a shorter
growing cycle than wheat and is hardy enough to grow as far north as the
Arctic circle or as high as 14,000 feet elevation.  Admittedly, at the far
ends of rye's range, the yields fall off.

I've never seen a reference to harvesting the unripened grain.  I can see it
when trying to salvage the crop from disasterous weather.  Or, it may have
possibly been common practice during the cooler climate of the "Little Ice
Age."  The fact that this information is referenced only in the Time-Life
series makes it suspect.  I have some severe problems with the quality of
the history in some of the other Time-Life series and I would prefer to see
better documented references to the practice.

Bear      
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