Notes From the Palouse

Rolling hills and patchwork farm fields

   
     This past week I visited the farmers who live and farm in the Palouse Region of Eastern Washington state.  This area comprises roughly in the south-east portion of the state, and goes into the panhandle of Idaho.  It is very rich agriculturally, with silty soils and abundant rains, which come during the spring and early summer.

Winter wheat beginning to turn from green to gold.  

     Geologically, the region is made of unusual and beautiful silt-dunes, which were formed during the Ice Age.  They were the result of a glacial outwash, which made huge, random humps and hollows.  I often describe them as endless giant gopher mounds.  The big, open portions of the dunes are cropped fields.  In the gullies and hollows, are timber, brush, creeks, deciduous trees and shrubs.  The combined fields and trees are gorgeous.

See how the cab is level, and the header follows the contour of the land?
This is a self leveling combine.  Pretty helpful.

     You might imagine that it could be dicey attempting to drive a tractor or combine on these steep hillsides.  It is!  The self leveling combine was developed by Washington State University, which is in this region.

      The farmland here is like none other.  Precipitation ranges from 15" to 22" annually, so farmers have no need to irrigate.  The top soil is very deep, ranging from 3' and deeper throughout the Palouse.  Crops are predominantly wheat, barley, dry peas, lentils and garbanzos, with some oats, flax and canola.  Whitman County, in the heart of the Palouse, is the largest grower of Soft White Wheat in the United States.

     The region was settled in the late 1800's by German, Irish and Russian immigrants - you'll hear their surnames all over the Palouse.  Most farms are still being worked by original families - with 4th and 5th generation now tilling the land that their ancestors homesteaded.

Fields with dry peas growing in the foreground

      Harvest is just beginning in the Palouse.  The first crop to ripen is winter wheat (hard red and soft white winter wheats), then dry peas and dry lentils, then the spring wheats (dark northern, hard white and soft white spring wheats), and finally, garbanzos.  Harvest runs from the end of July through September.

     After harvest, farmers plant their fall crop of winter wheat and in some cases, dry winter peas. Also, they prepare fields which will be planted in the spring.  They spray weed killer and incorporate fertilizer in the soil, so that it can work over the winter.  Usually they are done with all their fall work by mid to late October.

Dry peas growing.

     Then, they rest.  They  make repairs and upgrades to all of their equipment.  They go to seminars and conventions which pertain to the crops they grow, or type of farming they practice.   They plan and budget for next season, and talk with their banker, accountant and crop advisors.  They sleep in a little bit, maybe till 7 am or so.  They enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And, if they're lucky, they go on a winter vacation with their families and friends. The farmers of the Palouse know they live in God's country, and they don't take it for granted!

Chicken and Barley Soup

Chicken and Barley Soup

Sooo gooooood!

From the kitchen of TheFarmGirl

1T butter

1 onion, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1C celery, diced

2 chicken breasts, diced

6C water or chicken broth (throw in bullion cubes if you don't have broth)

1C barley

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp dried tarragon

Melt the butter in a large stockpot, then add the onion and carrots. Cook for a few minutes until the onions start to go soft, then add the water or broth. Rinse the barley several times to remove dust and chaff, then add to the pot, along with the bay leaves. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then add the uncooked chicken to poach. Simmer for about another 20 minutes, or until the barley is soft and the chicken is cooked. Add the tarragon, salt and pepper and serve! This is even better the next day after all the flavors have a chance to sit in the fridge overnight. It also freezes really well. So good on a cold day!

Barley There!

      Barley. That's what you use to make beer and whiskey, right?   Well, yes, but there's a lot more to barley than that!  It's the fourth largest grain crop in the world, and, along with wheat, was one of the first domesticated grains grown.  Since ancient times, barley has been used as an important source of food, in religious rituals, as a standard of measurement and even as currency.

A field of barley. The heads are more droopy than wheat,
and the "beards," the long spiky portions of the head, are very pronounced .

     Germany is the world's largest producer of barley (imagine that!), followed by France and Ukraine. The USA is the 10th largest producer, growing 3.4 million tons in 2011.  Half of the barley grown in the USA is used as livestock feed.  Barley is an adaptable crop, and can grow in temperate areas in the summer and tropical areas in the winter.  It is also relatively drought tolerant and can grow in more salty soils. 

Barley corns

     Barley was also used as a standard of measurement in England through the 1700's, with three barleycorns making an inch, and four or five poppy seeds to the barleycorn.  This barleycorn-inch is still used in shoe sizing in the UK and USA, even though the new standard inch replaced the barleycorn-inch in the 19th century.  A barleycorn-inch is about 1/3 the length of a new or modern-day inch.  Pretty interesting, right?  The shoes on your feet are measured in barleycorns!

Two-row and six-row barley

     Domesticated barley has been around since pretty much forever.  It was bred so that the spikelets which hold the kernels don't shatter and fall to the ground before being harvested.      Barley varieties today are classified as either two-row or six-row, meaning that there are either two rows of kernels or six rows of kernels.  Confusing, I know.

A barley whiskey

     However, it's important for brewing beer, since two-row barley has lower protein and won't cloud up the beer.  Two-row barley is usually used in making German beer.  The higher-protein, six-row barleys are used in food products and in animal feed, although some lager beers use higher-protein barleys.  Oh, and whiskey made in Scotland and Ireland is often from barley, although whiskey is also often made with wheat or rye.  And the Brits make barley wine, the Japanese make barley tea, and the Italians make barley coffee.  Yay for barley!

     While barley as a food grain is not quite as versatile as wheat, it is highly nutritious, with 1 cup of cooked barley delivering over 50% of a person's daily fiber needs, and over 10% of the daily protein needs.  We all should probably eat more of it.  As a food product, it's almost as versatile as wheat, and is typically eaten cooked in its whole-grain form.  It is wonderful in soups and stews, and is excellent as a side dish or in salads.  Barley can also be ground into a meal and made into porridge or baked into cakes and breads.  Barley has an excellent, nutty flavor, and a good, chewy consistency.  It's a hearty comfort food, and an excellent replacement for rice and pasta.  It does take a while to cook, but the result is worth it!

A barley and pea risotto. YUM!

     So, there you go.  Now you know a little more about barley.  Now, go get some and make the curried barley salad that we posted!  Yum!

More barley - note the long, spiky beards

Information for this article was taken from these websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_size
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley

Curried Barley Salad

CURRIED BARLEY WITH NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT

This is a good one, great for potlucks, serve hot or cold

From the Kitchen of Robin W.L

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 C. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 C. pearl barley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2-1/4 C. chicken broth
1/2 C. dried cherries or cranberries
1/2 C. dried apricots, diced into small pieces
2/3 C. chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds, diced

Rinse the barley, and put it into a pot with all other ingredients.  Add water according to the barley package directions.  Cook over the stovetop according to barley package directions.  Wonderfully delicious!