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When I lived in a city I helped manage our neighborhood's community garden. I was able to get rare and endangered seeds from the USDA for free and we grew them
by pard68 3y ago
When I lived in a city I helped manage our neighborhood's community garden. I was able to get rare and endangered seeds from the USDA for free and we grew them in our community garden to experience ancient foods. Pretty cool program, I believe all we had to do was agree to not use them for profit and make an effort to return some seeds at the end of the season.
The Iranian sorghum was the most memorable plant. I had never seen sorghum before then and it is such an interesting plant. I have since developed a love for sorghum and sorghum molasses makes up almost all of my sugar intake these days.
If you have never seen sorghum, imagine 10+ foot tall corn stalks with amaranth heads.
- broomcorn 3y agoBroom corn is a type of sorghum that is used to make brooms. It's eally fun to watch videos of the process. I've been planning on growing some this summer.
- fuzztester 3y agowhy do you think sorghum is an interesting plant? also I didn't know you could make molasses from sorghum. must check that out.
- pard68 3y agoI find it so interesting how it puts down stabilizing roots. Corn does it, but not to the extent of this sorghum we grew. It'd drop roots from a foot or two up the stalk. And it grows so fast and so tall you can pretty easily "watch" it grow just by looking at it every day. I wasn't aware of sorghum molasses either, but apparently it was the primary source of sugar for much of the southern US for a long time. It's not like cane molasses, it has a much richer taste and is apparently good for you in moderation. Has some minerals and compounds that are hard to find in other foods.
- fuzztester 3y agothanks. I've had jowar bhakris, which are like rotis made of sorghum flour. they taste okay, not great (imo of course). I've had bajra bhakris too. bajra is more heating and harder to digest, so better for winter food, but has a more pronounced taste than jowar. it is more dense, so you get full sooner.