Avena nudans oats

Does anyone grow hulless oats?
When is it best sown? Autumn or spring? If in autumn how long before the first frost?
Does it cross with other oat varieties - we have the odd oat growing in our garden because we feed it to the sheep.
Is it really easy to process?

I grew "naked" oats this past year and loved them. IM in zone 6 and I planted them in March I believe, and harvested by July. Processing was fairly simple since they tend to just fall out of the husk when they are at the right moisture level. I dont know about crossing with other varieties either.

On a side note, I was happy with what I did because I took my first cutting in the summer and got grain, and I found if I cut it right it would grow back. Also, some of the grain fell to the ground and new growth happened for a second cutting which I used for straw for my beds.

I suspect that when to plant depends on where you are and what you want to do with it. It won't handle freezing. 
Friends who had a bunch left over from a bumper crop they raised for their horses fed it to free range turkeys and ended up with the most amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas birds ever.  They were HUGE (well over 50 pounds each) and wonderfully tender and sweet and moist. The only problem was figuring out how to cook them..they ended up having to cut them in two to get them into the oven.

I thought oats are a cool climate crop sown like winter wheat. So I better try it in spring.

From what I have been told my the Ag extension, oats will not grow over winter in my zone 6. It is so successful with a spring planting you really wouldnt need to sow in the fall. GL!

would oats grow well on the east coast? zone 7/8 border with good high humidity.

Where did you get the hull-less / naked seeds?

Are these gluten free too?

Thanks in advance. Might try a small plot now and/or in the fall.

I purchased them through my company since we carry this brand and I get a discount But now we don't carry them anymore but you can get them from http://www.mtmonstermunchies.com/

They are gluten free. As far as them growing on east coast, I did just fine in zone 6. Im not sure about zone 7/8, but worth a try...I think you can buy a 3lb bag as a test. GL!

Dr_Temp wrote:


Are these gluten free too?

It's oats so it should be, no wheat to make the gluten.

Well oats are naturally free from gluten but they can become easily contaminated when processed with wheat. It happens all the time in my business, we even test for it on oat products and find heavy PPM sometimes.