We’re starting up a new project at the culinary school I work at focusing on grain. My colleague Marko will be the lead on it and it has a lot of experience with the processing and upcycling side of grains, e.g. having made ice cream from leftover bread (turning it into sugars first). We’ve made malt vinegar from leftovers from beer production and other experiments. Then there’s of course all the work doing all the staple bakery goods even better by using grains with other qualities, e.g. incorporating flour from pulses and legumes. As always, all these experiments are simultaneously the basis for lots of fun education for the chef and hospitality students.
As part of the project, we’re exploring to do some small test plots of diverse grain at the new Breeding field. This is where I need your assistance! Grasses are one of the crops I have less experience with.
The scope is such that the project can include both the classic grains as well as pseudo-cereals, corn etc. If it can be made into a functioning flour and grown here, it could be relevant.
I’m looking for people willing to share genetic ressources for us to try. As well as tips on how to grow in a low-intervention way.
My colleague is looking for interesting grain growers to visit. Please let me know if you have connections and are willing to put us in contact!
@ThomasPicard, you visit Salvatore Ceccarelli and Stephania Grando in Italy. Do you think they’d be willing to get a visit from him in March or April? Do you have other folks you’d recommend visiting?
Pinging @isabelle since I heard you grow different kinds of grains too. Would love to hear your input on this project!
Anna Monaldi and her network may be happy to welcome you too. They grow the FURAT EP (bread wheat) in le Marche, region of central Italy, nearby where Salvatore and Stefania live.
It could be a good way to see the actual Evolutionary Population in situ.
I currently have some rye, 3 types of oats, and FURAT wheat growing in my garden .
I plan to sow linen (flax?) in a few weeks, then in may the GTS quinoa grex year 2, various sorghos , various corns, millet, blackwheat (of course, this is brittany!) and I have a few mysterious things from the serendipity box.
All I grow is low to zero intervention. I do prepare soil with a hoe, when necessary, but I broadsow manually (all the small seeds, not corn yet, although I know someone who does) and then cover with 5cm straw/hay. nothing more until harvest.
I don’t know what to say about your project, there is too little information , but I will gladly discuss with you guys.
Thanks for inputs. I will ask the Italians for a visit from us to learn more.
@isabelle Do you be willing to share some of your grains with me to grow this season? I have a note you’re looking for genetics for yellow sweet corn, lentils, fava beans - I could send you some local seed from Denmark in return. And of course share the harvest with you at the end of the season. Our climates are relatively similar - typically lots of rainfall for one thing.
I understand there’s not much to go on with the project at this eexplorative phase, esp. from an agricultural perspective, because we’re just starting up. I will probably grow similarly low-input to zero-input like I will do with most of the other crops.
What I think could be exciting is this: We’ll have a team of skilled chefs, food scientists working on analysing and experiment with our grain as well as local growers here - possibly Anders Borgen will be one partner - and since they’re open for the idea of working with evolutionary populations, I see it as a promising opportunity to get adaptive seed working in that context.