Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7616 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 with the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, a South Carolina- based organization whose mission is to sustainably restore and preserve Carolina Gold rice and other heirloom grains. David Shields, chair of the organization’s board and a food historian, found references to purple straw in literature and started tracing its history. Shields found that Purple Straw can be traced back to before the American Revolution — at least to the 1730s — and was a widely grown variety, valued for its durability and wholesomeness. But progress almost doomed the variety. “Other more productive wheats began to be pushed out by various university breeding programs, and others began adopting those in the hopes of more ton- nage,” Shields said. “That’s not at all unusual in terms of any large-scale grain that has been superseded. When something was introduced that had a clear advantage — great disease resistance, or greater millability, or finer quality of flour — the old wheat would go by the way- side rather quickly.” The handfuls of Purple Straw seed were entrusted to Ward, who went through a painstaking process to bring it back from the brink. He employs a practice called “system of crop inten- sification.” Rather than drilling seeds into the ground two to three inches apart in rows spaced at about seven inches, Ward increased the space between plants to 36 inches, and rows out to 12 inches. The system keeps plants from competing with each other for resources. “You’re giving each seed all the opportunity for the nutrients, water, root space and light. Our yields can be 10-fold what they can be in a typical planting,” Ward said. “For a seed growout, this is a no-brainer.” Ward started all the seed in greenhouses and eventu- ally transplanted about 1,200 plants into the field. Another 500 were kept inside in case a weather event damaged the field crops. A small reserve was set aside in case the whole system failed. In the first year, Ward and his team harvested 145 pounds. He’ll plant around 100 pounds this fall with the hopes of turning it into 2,000 pounds. After another plant- ing, Ward believes he’ll have enough seed to put purple straw back onto the market for any interested growers. Ancient Grains There are certainly eco- nomic reasons to preserve or resurrect a long-forgotten grain. The health attributes Using a system of seed escalation called “crop intensification,” Clemson University research specialist Brian Ward has begun the process of turning half a pound of Purple Straw seed — which he planted in late 2015 at Clemson’s Coastal Research and Education Center in Charleston — into several hundred pounds. PHOTO: JIM MELVIN / CLEMSON UNIVERSITY. Much of the Purple Straw wheat seed being grown by Clemson University was obtained from the Sustainable Seed Co. in Chico, California. PHOTO COURTESY SUSTAINABLE SEED CO. of ancient grains, as well as consumer desires for new-to-them foods, have driven significant sales of grains such as quinoa. Quinoa, however, isn’t a grain that was lost and then found, said Glenn Roberts, president and CEO of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation and founder of Anson Mills, a grower and miller of heirloom grains. Now one of the hottest “superfood” grains on the market, quinoa has long been a staple in South America and has been continually grown in the American Southeast for generations. “‘What’s old is new again,’ could be quinoa’s tagline, joining other heritage grains such as farro and freekeh (both ancient forms of wheat) in the parade of superfoods tantalizing health- conscious eaters,” wrote the Poughkeepsie Journal’s Karen Miltner. Roberts says quinoa has been so successful in part because it fits well into this consumer trend for something new and exotic, what USA Today referred to as the “quinoa craze”. “People are eating quinoa because someone told them it was good for them, and it’s tasty, and the story is great,” said Roberts, whose company is not growing or selling Purple Straw. He adds that Purple Straw wheat was lost and has been found, and that’s an even better story. Add to that the fact that it’s a nutritious grain, and the appeal should be widespread. “You’re kind of eating in a time machine. You’re nourish- ing yourself in another era,” Roberts said. “The demand for something like this — if the story really has integrity, that had a presence in the colonial era to the modern times — is vertical, especially at the beginning.” Shields believes the story is indeed there for Purple Straw wheat. It stood the test of time, succumbing not to pests, disease