01: Introductions

Grains

What grows where? European climate zones (current)

  • Wheat (and related: farro, spelt, more)
  •  barley
  • rye
  • oats
  • millet
  • buckwheat

Neolithic agricultural revolution

Roman Empire: grain trade across Mediterranean

Latifundia:

Villa: servi, coloni

Wheat

  • preferred grain with preference for bread
  • requires rotation and/or fertilizer
  • highest market value

Barley

  1. Wider range of soils than wheat; drought tolerant
  2. Shorter growing season than wheat
  3. Needs to be hulled

Harvesting barley, Germany ca 1911

Ex: Viking Greenland

This is a 21st-century reproduction of Thjodhild’s church on Erik the Red’s estate (known as Brattahlíð) in present day Qassiarsuk, Greenland. Credit G. Everett Lasher/Northwestern University

Each side of the grain of barley is only a couple of millimetres long, and the grain weighs less than 0.01 mg – yet the find is an archaeological sensation. (Photo: Peter Steen Henriksen)

Barley grain found at Greenland archaeological site. National Museum, Copenhagen

Rye

  1. Needs a hard frost to germinate
  2. Out-grows wheat when  planted together

Storing preserved rye crispbread

Oat

  1. Needs less heat than other grains; can tolerate wetter weather
  2. Often favored as animal feed

Buckwheat

  1. Not really a grain but used like one
  2. Quick growing, can grow in poor soil

Related image

Millet: likewise

Image result for millet farming europe