Around the World to Find Heritage Grains
This is Gary’s beautiful field of einkorn grain growing on the Young Living Mona, UT, farm.
I started researching einkorn and found small plots in upper Hunzaland, which is in Pakistan. Mary and I were there in September. I’ll never forget, we were driving down the road in the Karimabad Valley, and I saw men down in the field with the scythes, cutting grain that was right up to the men’s shirt pockets. So I said to the driver, “Stop, I have to go see this.” I jumped out and ran down to the field, and here was this beautiful grain that was so different than what I am accustomed to seeing back home.
I got all excited because it looked similar to what we grew at home, except that the heads were a little bit different. Instead of being partially square and a little fuller, they were very flat and had smaller kernels, so I knew that it was a different type.
It took me four years after that discovery before I was able to get it translated to what I thought was farro. Then I went looking for it. I found it also in Azerbaijan and Ethiopia, all being harvested by hand. But it wasn’t farro. It was einkorn!
This picture of einkorn is at the Young Living farm in France taken just before last year’s convention. This is einkorn after thrashing in France. And this is the einkorn that we harvested last year that is here in your pancake and spaghetti mix today. Isn’t that exciting?
This is the einkorn I grew on the Mona farm last year.
