A guide to the five major grains

The five major grains of wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat and barley each possess their own unique growing, cooking and flavour properties. Here's a look at what sets them apart.

• As the world's leading bread grain, wheat requires a cool, moist growing season and several months of hot, dry weather for ripening
• Wheat grows about a metre (three feet) tall and turns golden brown when ripe
• It is ready to harvest when the grain is hard and crunchy between the teeth
• Wheat supplies the best-balanced nutrition of any grain
• Soft wheats are used in pastries and cakes while the hard wheats are best for bread
• Semolina flour from hard durum wheat is used to make pastas, including spaghetti
• Summer wheat is sown in spring; winter wheat should be sown early enough for the plant to produce three or four leaves before the frost

• Of all the grains, oats are the highest in protein
• They are a hardy crop that thrives in a cool, moist climate and cannot tolerate drought
• Oats give their best return when sown early in the spring
• A mature oat plant stands up to 1.5 metres (five feet) tall
• Oats can be harvested while they still have a few green tinges
• They should be gathered into grouped sheaves and left to dry in the field

• Rye is sown predoninantly in the fall for its grain, but also frequently for use as a cover crop or green manure crop
• Rye grows up to 1.5 metres (five feet) tall
• Although its per-hectare (per-acre) yield is less than that of wheat, it can produce crops on poorer soil than wheat and tolerates cold, drought and dampness better than wheat
• Most rye bread contains at least 50 percent wheat flour

• Buckwheat is raised for its nutlike, triangular seeds and soil-boosting benefits
• The dark, strong-flavoured flour is excellent for pancakes
• Buckwheat grows to about a metre (three feet) high; it prefers moist, acid soil and hot weather
• Because it matures rapidly (60 to 90 days), buckwheat is a fast-growing summer annual that improves soil fertility and protects the soil over winter

• A long, cool ripening season and moderate moisture is best for barley, which is the second-most grown cereal crop in Canada
• It will adapt well to heat and aridity, and also tolerates salty and alkaline soils better than most other grains
• Barley is a summer crop
• Barley is used for animal feed, beer and malt. It is also used in soup and as a whole-grain dish