How to Thresh Wheat by Hand

Flailing

• 1

  Spread the sheet on a hard surface. Lay the wheat out on the sheet in a layer no more than a foot thick.

• 2

  Swing the flail so that the lower piece lands flat as it strikes the wheat. Use a large circular movement, swinging from back to front so the threshing end can build up some momentum before striking.

• 3

  Flail for a few minutes. Check the wheat. As the wheat separates from the straw, remove the straw from the sheet.

• 4

  Add more wheat to the sheet. Continue to flail. When you finish, remove all the straw from the sheet.

• 5

  Use the sheet to pour the threshed wheat into a container for winnowing.

Beating

• 6

  Grasp a handful of wheat by the stem end.

• 7

  Bang the wheat against the inside walls of a clean metal garbage can. Use enough force to knock the wheat kernels off the stems. The force will also knock the chaff off the wheat.

• 8

  Pour the wheat into a another container as it accumulates.

Trampling

• 9

  Spread the unthreshed wheat on a clean sheet.

• 10

  Trample the wheat. You can drive animals like sheep or oxen over the wheat, or you can walk or dance on it yourself.

• 11

  As the wheat falls off the stems, remove the stems and add more unthreshed wheat.