Okanagan farmer sets out to revive enthusiasm for ancient grain

A atom making love backmost thousands of years is sprouting up successful nan Okanagan. Doug Pedersen has poured his blood, sweat and tears into nan repopulation of nan ancient grain, amaranth.

“Amaranth is an ancient grain, it’s been cultivated for 8,000 years successful Mexico and South America and it’s a high-protein, gluten-free grain,” Pedersen said.

Right now, he’s 1 of nan fewer growers of nan works successful nan province. It’s been almost 4 years since he began cultivating and tending to his one-acre crop, which he hopes will only turn successful popularity.

“(It had) been outlawed by nan conquistadors 500 years ago. They recovered nan Aztecs worshiped it arsenic a deity and they forbade them from increasing it. So it’s been suppressed and conscionable precocious successful nan past 30 (or) 40 years it’s been revived arsenic a food,” Pedersen said.

“I americium trying to beforehand it arsenic an replacement nutrient root that’s sustainable and arsenic a precocious yield, 1 small seed.”

To honour nan history of nan grain, Pedersen has hung a coating of nan Aztec deity Huitzilopochtli.

Pedersen says that from 1 works he tin harvest 3 to 8 ounces of grain. Once harvested, Pedersen produces different items specified arsenic flour, and a saccharine dainty called alegria.

“I waste atom and flour astatine nan farmers market, I waste alegria, which is simply a dainty made pinch popped amaranth,  it pops for illustration popcorn mixed pinch honey,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen frequents farmers’ markets successful Enderby and Armstrong, however, currently, he is connected hiatus until harvest.