Farmer Revives 'Miracle Grain' From Attic Seeds

An Italian farmer's attic clean-out three decades ago may have unearthed both a biblical echo and a blueprint for climate-era bread. Smithsonian magazine tells the story of Parma farmer Claudio Grossi, who in the early 1990s dumped a sack of mystery seeds—likely saved by his great-grandfather—into a manure pile, assuming they were dead. What emerged was a towering wheat unlike anything he'd grown: six-foot stalks bearing seven ears each, with kernels in an array of colors. A passage in the Bible describing a seven-eared stalk led Grossi to suspect he'd stumbled onto something very old.

Curious, he milled the grain and baked with it, finding it flavorful but difficult to leaven. Working with a traditional baker, he figured out how to coax better loaves from what he dubbed grano del miracolo, or miracle wheat. University of Parma researchers later identified it as Triticum turgidum, an ancient wheat variety richer in phosphorus and iron, with less gluten and higher levels of certain amino acids than modern wheat. The grain also proved hardy, faring better in drought and growing tall enough to shade out weeds. As climate stress threatens harvests, Smithsonian explores how this and other heritage grains could help diversify crops and make the food supply more resilient. Read the full story.