From wheat, to barley, to lentils, grains have been cultivated for thousands of years and form a vital part of our diet.

Across the past century, however, the seed diversity of the crops we farm has dramatically declined. Experts estimate that, in the past 100 years, people have lost 90% of the grain, pulse and legume varieties they used to have access to.

This increase in crop homogeneity, fuelled by the rise in large-scale industrial farming across the 20th and 21st centuries, and the demand for high-yield crops that can be farmed at a mass scale, has the potential to damage our food security, our ecosystems and our future.

One way to combat this is to cultivate Heritage Grains, like the ones in the Chiswick House Kitchen Garden. Heritage grains are varieties of crops that were grown long before the rise in intensive agriculture, and are typically more adaptable and resilient than their newer counterparts.

We recently met with local community group Deaf Women Ealing, who support women with hearing loss in the Ealing area, and with members of The Masbro Elders Project, to learn together about heritage grains, as part of our ongoing ‘Grains Project’.

By working with local community groups on projects like these, we aim to share knowledge, and understand what these grains mean to them, and what significance they hold culturally, historically, and personally. Through this sharing and learning together,  we enrich our connections to food production and ensure the Chiswick House Kitchen Garden remains a central part of our local community.

Keep an eye out for more on the Grains Project later this year, when participants will be harvesting crops and baking their own bread – and don’t forget to visit the Kitchen Garden yourself, to find out more about the different kinds of heritage grains we’re currently cultivating there.

 

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