Italian farmer plants mystery seeds, grows ancient seven-eared wheat
Claudio Grossi discovered an unexpected grain in his attic that proved to be a forgotten ancient variety.
What to know
- An Italian farmer discovered ancient seeds in his attic that grew into a seven-eared grain variety, identified as an ancient wheat.
- The discovery has drawn media attention as potentially addressing modern agricultural challenges.
- Social discussion has centered on the story's resonance with themes of risk-taking and alternatives to commercial farming.
This demonstrates the value of ancient agricultural varieties as resilient alternatives to industrial farming.
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“This is a fascinating story and a pretty interesting attack on commercial farming.”
bobkmertz@techhub.social · Mastodon ↗
The story's appeal lies in its inherent risk and unexpectedness—doing something unplanned with unknown materials.
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“Remember kids: always plug in any random USB thumb drive you find”
mathowie@xoxo.zone · Mastodon ↗
“When a seven-eared stem emerged from the ground, it seemed like a miracle. What Claudio Grossi had unearthed was an ancient grain that proved to be an answer to some modern problems”
Smithsonian Magazine · Smithsonian ↗
Claudio Grossi Italian farmer
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Smithsonian publishes story identifying grain as ancient biblical wheat
The Smithsonian Magazine published an article characterizing the grain Grossi grew as an ancient biblical wheat, framing it as a potential solution to modern agricultural problems.
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Remember kids: always plug in any random USB thumb drive you find https://www. smithsonianmag.com/science-nat ure/italian-farmer-found-unknown-seeds-attic-with-nothing-lose-planted-them-result-biblical-180989644/
2 more of the top 3 · 27 posts in this stretch
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> All of the wheat types Grossi had previously seen grew only one such ear. But the tall wheat grew a full seven ears, always in the same pattern: a long one with six shorties bunched up around it like little fingers. Even the kernels themselves were bigger than those of average wheat. And unlike the typical pale-yellow wheat kernels, they came in…
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This is a fascinating story about the revival of ancient grains. # AncientGrains # Smithsonian # article # health # agriculture https://www. smithsonianmag.com/science-nat ure/italian-farmer-found-unknown-seeds-attic-with-nothing-lose-planted-them-result-biblical-180989644/
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background
Claudio Grossi plants mystery attic seeds, harvests seven-eared grain — Italian farmer Claudio Grossi discovered unknown seeds in his attic and planted them with no particular expectations. The resulting harvest produced stems with seven ears, which analysis revealed to be an ancient grain variety.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Mastodon, 12d ago · also The Times of India, HN Best, HN Frontpage, Smithsonian
2 more headlines
- Italian farmer planted mysterious seeds found in attic, discovered ancient biblical wheat with seven ears The Times of India · 11d ago
- An Italian farmer found some unknown seeds in his attic and planted them HN Best · 7d ago
What people are saying 21 voices from 2 sites · best of 27 · verbatim
- Nov 2
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Seed matters, old seed if it has been kept properly, but the soil it goes into matters too. The further that soil is from chemicals, and the more it has been sown without genetically modified seed, the better the yield you get from ancient seed.
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If Monsanto knows what they're doing, they will corporate buyout this guy and destroy his competing wheat never to be seen again - that's the optimal market solution for maximal profits.
- Nov 1
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At the end of the article there is a brief description of the global history of stories of the sharing of crops with humans by gods. It is by a different author. In the list it includes Mexico. I was under the impression that the history of corn is fundamentally different than the main crops of the 6 pristine civilizations in that it was not as…
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Nice story! As an aside: my wife and I only buy pasta imported from Italy because it is simply so much better tasting than pasta made with commercial US-grown wheat. I don’t know why.The food industry in the US is pretty much messed up. We try to only buy fresh produce and fresh fish, staying away from processed food - but it is difficult. I read…
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While the lede is a bit buried, I understand that while this is a rediscovery for this era, it is in fact a widely disseminated strain of wheat, so not really a huge novelty, but rather an important reminder of all the diversity still available out there.
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What an interesting story. I look at the old testament and see a survival guide for a society in a difficult neighbourhood and environment. Separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, is not so easy.Clearly this site is a breeding ground for experts, so the genetics of the wheat will be explained in other posts.
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It's been a trend in Denmark for many years to find and grow old seeds. I'm not sure if they ship overseas, but I'm sure if you ask them nicely there is a good chance.Aurion, a mill with a web shop: https://www.aurion.dk/Kornetshus, a knowledge center on seeds: https://kornetshus.dk/Both are highly recommended.
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Unfortunately the article does not identify precisely the "miracle" wheat."Triticum turgidum" is ambiguous, because this wheat species has many different subspecies, with very different characteristics.There are 2 important subspecies of "Triticum turgidum", emmer wheat, which was 1 of the 3 cereals domesticated at the beginning of the Neolithic…
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This reminds me of the Urzeitcode phenomenon: the idea that dormant or forgotten seeds can produce unexpectedly unusual plant characteristics when exposed to different conditions.
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The best time to think about your great-grandfather is when you're 3yo and he's still alive.The second best time is when you recover his stash of seeds.
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Here in the far northeast of Portugal, too. Also, lots of rye, buckwheat, and all sorts of crazy cultivars of other stuff - they grow lettuce here that bolts a meter tall without any loss of flavour, and jersey walking sticks, yellow (on the inside too) watermelons with huge seeds - all sorts - because they still grow the same village/family seed…
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In one of the pictures they show "barley coffee". During the communism, in some countries of Eastern Europe you could only find in the stores this type of coffee, as the real one required hard currency to import.
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Before circa middle 20th century all wheat was very tall. This minor fact somehow significantly changes picture of the past for me.
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The straws are longer, which is why they cannot be fertilized with nitrogen. Unlike other spelt varieties, it was never crossed with wheat. It was also not bred for dough stability, which is why it must be baked in a special way, for example, using a water roux. The glutenin-to-gliadin ratio is different, resulting in a highly extensible but…
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The damage by the "progress" is multifold and pervasive. GM foods, with a goal of high yields, lost all nutritional value and gave the world insipid food and killed the natural foods forever. Supply chains and food regulations meant extreme processing of already killed food. What's left is bacteria-less, nutrition-less, sugary pulp that digests…
- Oct 31
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> It also had more arginine, an amino acid that children need to grow.My kingdom for even a tiny bit of scientific literacy amongst people who are reporting on science.Not only is this absurd ("children" need all amino acids to grow...as does anyone else), arginine isn’t even one of the essential amino acids. Your body makes it unless something is…
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Terrible pasta? I solely buy spelt (dinkel) pasta of I can choose.Maybe you mean it gets more sticky if you cook it too long? But al dente I think it's amazing. It has a nutty taste that works very well with tomatoes if you ask me.
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I personally like spelt in bread. It provides a lot of aroma, especially for doughs that are overnight-leavened in low temperature.
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Many farmers here in Switzerland grow urdinkel - ancient spelt. In the USA most farmers grew it also until around the 1920s but then a new wheat came out that was easier to process. Spelt has thicker hulls and wears down the mill faster so the mills switched to the new wheat and the farmers all had to switch too.Based on the name I think ur…
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key points about wheat Gross (the Italian farmer) discovered in 1990 his attic:+ It fared better during droughts, growing so tall that it overshadowed the weeds. It didn’t need fertilizer or herbicides.+ It's height can be a liability. Heavy winds, rains and hail can make the tall stems flip over before the grain ripens, ruining harvests.+ Working…
- Oct 30
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This is a fascinating story and a pretty interesting attack on commercial farming. https://www. smithsonianmag.com/science-nat ure/italian-farmer-found-unknown-seeds-attic-with-nothing-lose-planted-them-result-biblical-180989644/ # AncientGrain # Wheat # Gluten