The Staff of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Small Farm Viability

This year we begin to market our grain and seeds in earnest. We've created a grain and seed CSA where customers will receive close to one hundred pounds of a variety of different grains and seeds. Our goal is to provide them with heritage and ancient varieties; varieties that hold the genetic intelligence to adapt to specific environments and changing climate conditions, and that contain the genetic characteristics that we will need for our future. Many of those very important characteristics have long been forgotten in the mad dash for higher yields, more drought tolerance, and other attributes that contribute directly to the bottom line. Nutrition (besides protein) has been given a back seat.

This year our grain crops look beautiful. I recently rolled the lentils (to press any large rocks into the soil since we will be swathing the plants) and harrowed the grains to tear out the tiny weed seedlings. We aren't signed up for disaster assistance and we don't have crop insurance, so we hope our crop makes it to harvest. There have been numerous hail threats, with one storm dropping the hard white pellets just 3 miles north of us. A tornado struck eastern Montana. A tornado. In Montana.

Today I hauled last year's emmer crop to be dehulled and cleaned. I found somebody who was able to dehull it (an issue with some of the ancient hulled varieties like emmer, spelt, and einkorn) and who was willing to buy it - Timeless Natural Food. I will buy back what I need for our Grain and Seed CSA and for baking. Most farmers in this area can haul grain in their sleep. For me, it was significant. It signified another step in the process of providing ancient and heritage grains directly to customers. It signified the potential for grain in the pursuit of small farm viability. It signified the old and the new in cohort - the old 1957 International truck hauling the thousands-year-old grain to the modern grain handling facility to be sold in a modern marketplace.


Dumping the emmer into the pit.


The emmer.

In addition, earlier this spring, I cleaned the Sonora heritage spring wheat we grew last year and have been baking wild yeast sourdough bread with it. It has proven to be a success at the farmers' market. The way I've structured my schedule, I'm only able to bake 16 loaves for market each week. My home oven can fit 4 loaves at a time, so I bake 4 sets. With one loaf for sampling, the 15 loaves have sold out the previous 3 weeks. I'm going to try to bake 20 loaves this week.

Despite the dominance of commodity grain (organic or conventional), I believe that grain will find a role in the direct-market, small farm.


Sonora Farmer Bread.


100% whole wheat Sonora Farmer Bread: stone-ground flour, starter, water, salt.