At one time, every community in the country produced its own grain. The reasons why such communal grain self-sufficiency disappeared are many, ranging from cheap shipping rates to exhausted soils. But with renewed interest in local food systems, grain self-sufficiency has become a hot topic.
Although written with a focus on growing grains in New England, Jack Lazor’s new book The Organic Grain Grower is the best resource we’ve seen for small-scale grain growers everywhere. The book covers necessary equipment and cultivation techniques for many types of crops: corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt and triticale, buckwheat, soy, dry beans, and oilseeds. Lazor describes himself as “a grain-processing nut,” and his passion comes alive in this fine guidebook’s depth of detail.
Buy this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: The Organic Grain Grower.
Robin Mather is a senior associate editor at MOTHER EARTH NEWS and the author of The Feast Nearby, a collection of essays and recipes from her year of eating locally on $40 a week. In her spare time, she is a hand-spinner, knitter, weaver, homebrewer, cheese maker and avid cook who cures her own bacon. Find her on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
