SKOWHEGAN, Maine ― In a small medway building on the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds Thursday, a group of grain enthusiasts were becoming part of an impromptu club as Eli Rogosa handed out small bags filled with wheat seeds.
These seed varieties, sirvinta and einkorn, aren’t available at your average local seed supplier, and you likely haven’t heard of them before.
These strains of wheat have been grown locally by small-scale farmers and backyard heritage grain growers like Rogosa in the central Maine region over the past several years. The grain species are ancient and being kept alive by a small number of people who continue to grow the seed in their backyards and small fields, passing on the most viable seeds to others who will continue to grow the wheat.
The group of about 20 people huddled in the medway building vowed to become members of the small group of people in the United States keeping that strain of heritage grain alive. Rogosa implored them to plant the seeds ― keeping in touch via email ― and rejoin again in Skowhegan this time next year to share the seeds from the wheat they grew.
“There are so many underutilized and neglected varieties of wheat,” Rogosa said. “Backyard growing is a perfect opportunity.”
The group attending the heritage grains workshop were among the approximately 250 people who turned out for the first day of the Maine Grain Alliance’s 11th annual Kneading Conference, a two-day event touching on everything grain related from baking to brewing to growing.
Rogosa was joined by Richard Roberts, leader of the Maine Grain Alliance’s Seed Restoration project, for the hour and half “Restoring Heritage Grains” session, which touched on what exactly heritage grains are, how they should be grown and why it is important for these strains of grain to be kept viable when modern industrial grains dominate the market.
Restoring heritage grains in Maine has been an important focus of the Maine Grain Alliance’s work, through projects like the Seed Restoration Project, because they believe that growing these grains can differentiate Maine on the grain market. The alliance has been working with farmers and seed keepers to bring these ancient grains into Maine fields, successfully restoring sirvinta and also expanding their work to native varieties of flint corn.
“By focusing on heritage grains that are well suited to being grown in Maine we get a couple of different benefits. One, you’re restoring a grain that has been around for a long time so you’re increasing the biodiversity. But we’re also restoring a variety that can potentially serve unique markets. You’re getting something that nobody else has by doing that,” Maine Grain Alliance executive director Tristan Noyes said.
While over the last century commodity wheat grown generally in the central and western U.S. has dominated the commercial markets, Rogosa said there are countless benefits to growing ancient grains from flavor to sustainability.
“The wheat species that are the most delicious and the most adapted to artisan bread baking […] are not the wheats that are grown on thousand acre mega-farms,” Rogosa said. “We’re in a huge learning curve in the U.S. when it comes to heritage grains.”
Though modern wheats have been bred for higher yield, growing heritage strains of wheat are a perfect project for the backyard grower or a small-scale farmers looking to increase biodiversity. “You can grow a huge amount of grain in a small space,” Roberts said.
Ancient varieties of wheat are more resilient to drought and erosion due to their extensive root systems, Rogosa said, and offer a higher mycorrhizal content, which pulls in more nutrients.
While the strains of wheat Rogosa passed out had been generally circulated through Maine, those who took the seeds in during the workshop hailed from as far away as Texas and Montana, where they said they hoped the wheat would grow.
“We need people doing it,” Rogosa said. “It’s reclaiming the staff of life.”
Heritage grains weren’t the only trip into the past offered during the first day of the Kneading Conference, scythes ― a traditional mowing and harvesting tool ― were also on display as part of the demonstration “The Rise of the Scythe.”
Jesse Cottingham, who ran the demonstration, brought about a dozen scythes that he has collected over the 10 years he has been working with the tool to answer questions about how to use a scythe and what tasks it can be used for.
“The tool is very versatile and serves to replace a gas trimmer for many tasks,” Cottingham said. “You can mow your lawn with it, you can mow your field with it. I’ve harvested grain with it.”
Attendees of the demonstration gathered under the grandstands of the fairgrounds looked on with amazement as Cottingham pulled out blade after blade and explained the differences in weight and size and how that would compliment the task you wished complete with the scythe.
Francis Percival, a food economy writer and Thursday’s keynote speaker, said he was interested in attending the demonstration to see if using a scythe would be practical for haying fields in the United Kingdom where he is from, and where the fields are often uneven and difficult for mechanical machines to navigate. With the handlers being in total control of the non-mechanic scythes movements, Cottingham said there is a much higher connection to the land when using this tool.
“You can be a lot more tuned into the impact that you’re having [on the land],” Cottingham said. “Working with a scythe, it’s well-balanced and well-maintained so it’s more like you’re dancing while working.”
The Kneading Conference continues Friday with a second day full of demonstrations and workshops. Registration required. The grain festivities culminate Saturday with the Maine Artisan Bread Fair, which is free to attend.