The Forestry Forum
General Forestry => Timber Framing/Log construction => Topic started by: jph on May 01, 2008, 02:02:47 PM
At the end of last week i went on a 2 day course to learn how to thatch using long wheat straw. We learnt in 2 days what it takes 7 years for an apprentice to learn :-\ :-\
There were 10 of us on the course and we took over from where the previous years students had finnished. The lighter coloured straw is what we put on.
I think I learnt just about enough to have a go on a small garden building, only trouble is after last years bad harvest thatching straw is fetching up to £1000 per ton. We think we may try growing a couple of acres next year. I have started to look on ebay for a reaper/ binder.
John
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0023_JPGopt.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0030_JPGopt.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0034_JPGopt.jpg)
Very cool, thanks for sharing. What kind of straw is used for thatching?
Quote from: jph on May 01, 2008, 02:02:47 PM
At the end of last week i went on a 2 day course to learn how to thatch using long wheat straw. John
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0023_JPGopt.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0030_JPGopt.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12304/PIC_0034_JPGopt.jpg)
Sorry, guess my question wasn't specific enough :D. What I meant was, what is so special about the straw used for thatching that causes it to be priced so high? Is there a specific harvesting technique required? I assume there must be something different about it than regular wheat straw, since it costs $1/lb.
Can't help you with that one D.L. :D
Thatching staw has be 90 to 100 cm long, that means using old varieties of wheat. Very little nitrogen is used when growing . Combine harvesters cause too much damage to the straw so the crop is cut with an old fashioned reaper /binder. It is then left in the field to dry before being threshed in an old threshing drum. The whole process basically uses machinery from the 1930s