Growing the Wheat Field

Wheat varieties in the early 1900s grew to a height of 3-5 feet. That's 6-10mm in 2mm scale. I'm using plumbers hemp to represent the wheat, which is cut to size using electric hair grooming clippers. A No.2 comb gives the required height. The natural hemp is just the right colour to represent wheat ready for harvest.

The plan is for about half the field to be uncut wheat and the rest to be stubble with sheaves of cut wheat. The demarcation point being a McCormick reaper drawn by two horses. The reaper will need to be made from scratch. The finished scene will evoke the period and therefore interesting to view. The terracota ground colour is ok under the uncut wheat but might need to be darkened under the stubble area.

The method of growing the wheat is to first mark the runways for the hair comb webs to pass unhindered. PVA glue is laid between the runways. A pinch of hemp (not too thick) is cut off the hank and pressed into the glue and so on to create each row of wheat. When dry the clippers are gently pushed through the wheat along the runways to trim the height. The excess is vacuumed off.

David