May 2022 - Collab - lists.millets2023.space

Proso millet & pecans?
by Don Osborn 22 May '22

22 May '22

Last week I cooked and ate plain little millet for the first time, and today I did proso in the rice cooker for the first time in a while. Usually I put proso in a stew in the slow cooker, or maybe in a soup. On rare occasion in oatmeal. In the rice cooker (these days I use a small one) it gave off a nice grain aroma with a bit of nuttness - the typical description you'll read about proso's taste. I got the water right so it was a good consistency to fluff with a fork. As expected, the taste was "round" and somewhat nutty. There was a slight sweet aftertaste, which I wasn't expecting. Usually I think of proso as best with savory dishes - so this got me thinking. I decided to run with the slightly nutty and sweet flavor and ... add nuts. In this case it was some crushed pecans, which have their own sweetness. It was a nice combination, actually. Next time I might put the crushed pecans in the cooker with the proso. That could actually make a quick breakfast with milk or yoghurt and some fruit. Or else maybe a sweeter side in a later meal. So, considering the two "cousins" - proso (Panicum mileacium) & little millet (P. sumatrense) - proso is rounder, "nuttier," and slightly sweeter, while little is higher, flatter, and a bit earthy. Both good and both mild, but more different than I expected. Little may be the one to use for or with savory dishes, while proso may have a wider range (for those who can really cook or bake). Anyway, I learned something. DO, EL, MI, US

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Proceedings of a landmark international worksop on millets, 1986
by Don Osborn 21 May '22

21 May '22

In a slight research detour I came across an item of possible interest to those who aren't familiar with it (as I wasn't until today). It's the publication of articles from a conference on small millets 36 years ago Seetharam, A., K.W. Riley, and G. Harinarayana, eds., 1989, Small Millets in Global Agriculture: Proceedings of the First International Small Millets Workshop, Bangalore, India, October 29 - November 2, 1986. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. https://www.millets.res.in/books/Small_millets.pdf & https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/4286/42064.pdf A summary of recommendations from this conference is presented at http://www.milletimplic.net/englishinfo/1stintsym.htm One of the editors of that volume, Kenneth W. Riley, gave a summary of some of the ideas and hopes of that time, in "Small millets with big potential : introductory remarks" (1987): https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/4286/42064.pdf Personally I find it of interest to see where the thinking was at that time. Some of the articles give the state of use of and research on specific millets. Keep in mind that this event was held in a period when in much of the world, millets were already losing ground (literally, in terms of area cultivated, and figuratively in terms of dietary habits) to the major cereal grains most of the world depends on. So this compilation may be useful for historic perspective. While on the topic, there was a follow-up event five years later in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. That Second International Small Millets Workshop also had recommendations: http://www.milletimplic.net/englishinfo/2ndintsymp.htm The proceedings of that second conference do not appear to be available in full online, but were published as: Riley, K.W., S.C. Gupta, A. Seetharam, and J.M. Mushonga, eds. Advances in Small Millets, 1993, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. https://books.google.com/books/about/Advances_in_Small_Millets.html?id=PCkh… There does not appear to have been a third in this series. Anyway, I plan to look more closely at the recommendations from these two events - a few seem to still be pertinent. Note that "small millets" explicitly excluded the "large millet(s)," pearl millet (and sorghum). DO, EL, MI, US

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Lessons from quinoa & the IYQ (2013)?
by Don Osborn 16 May '22

16 May '22

The experience with the rise in popularity of quinoa in international markets, and the specific lessons from the International Year of Quinoa (IYQ) in 2013, may have important lessons for our efforts for millets and IYM in 2023. In an earlier post on this list, Joni mentioned potential synergisms with what has already happened with quinoa. What might these be? What should we know about IYQ as we plan for IYM in North America? One obvious place to look is the website of FAO, which coordinated IYQ just as it is coordinating IYM. Their main page for IYQ is at [https://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/](https://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/iyq/) There's quite a bit of material there, but of note is the short (4½ pp.) "Assessment of the International Year of Quinoa 2013" at https://www.fao.org/3/mk172E/mk172E.pdf . It noted * a traveling exhibition, "From the Andes to the World," which visited 7 countries, including the US * "tasting events" in a number of countries, including Canada and the US * several conference or symposium events, including the following in North America (I've added dates where I could find them, plus a URL about the Pullman event that has some info): ** Scientific technical meeting on food security and quinoa – New York (20 Feb 2013) ** International Quinoa Research Symposium – Pullman, Washington (12-14 Aug 2013; held by Washington State University & the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture) https://na.eventscloud.com/ehome/quinoa/ ** III International Forum of Quinoa at La Mar – San Francisco There does not appear to have been any particular initiative for quinoa in the region comparable to NAMA during IYQ, and it's not clear that there was any IYQ steering committee for any of the countries of the region. Will follow with any additional info as appropriate, and of course, if anyone has more or different info, please let us know. DO, EL, MI, US

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Little millet, the shorter cousin of proso millet
by Don Osborn 14 May '22

14 May '22

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) featured an article on its website last year entitled "The Big Potential of Little Millet."/1 Part of what's interesting about little millet is that it's in the same genus as proso millet./2 It is shorter than proso, but from photos (see the article or the Pinterest section on little millet/3), its panicles bear resemblance to those of proso. Not aware that it is grown in North America, but could this be easily added as a crop? Could harvesting techniques for proso be adapted for it? Anyone anywhere done taste tests on the two? I have inquired why SSSA featured an article on this particular millet, and will share whatever I learn. Of possible interest for further reading (if you have access to Jstor or a university library) is a book chapter by Steven A. Weber and Arunima Kashyap entitled "Panicum sumatrense: The Forgotten Millet."/4 DO - www.soils.org/news/science-news/big-potential-little-millet/ - Little millet = Panicum sumatrense; proso millet = Panicum miliaceum. Among the dozen or so cultivated millets, these represent the only two from a common genus. - https://www.pinterest.com/drdonosborn/millets-plural/little-millet/ - MINNIS, PAUL E., ed. New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops. University of Arizona Press, 2014. Chapter 8, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1mgmcgt.11

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Small scale growing of sorghum & millets for grain
by Don Osborn 11 May '22

11 May '22

I've worked with smallholder farmers in communities in West Africa where some combination of pearl millet, sorghum, and fonio were grown. I've also worked with gardeners in some of those communities. And I've done home vegetable gardening on a modest but sustained level in northern Virginia for seven years. However, I haven't thought about grain gardening - grains always seemed like field crops, even if the fields might be small in size. So it is of interest to catch up with the facts that (1) grain gardening is a thing in the US & Canada, and (2) some people are growing millets and sorghum on a home-scale. Although this is relatively minor in the overall scheme of things, there may be stories from this practice that might play well for a public audience. For the general case (#1), I understand that one of the authorities is (or was) Gene Logsdon, author of Small Scale Grain Raising,/1 among other books. I saw his 1978 article in Mother Earth (actually an excerpt from his book) introducing the topic/2 Logsdon is actually written up in Wikipedia./3 Another book on home-scale grain growing is Brie Arthur's Gardening With Grains./4 Her approach is more "edible landscaping" or "foodscaping,"/5 which I had heard of but honestly hadn't connected with plants we usually think of as grain crops. For discussions specifically of growing millets and sorghum on a home-scale (#2), I'd turn again to an article by Gene Logsdon (another book excerpt), in which he writes briefly about proso millet, foxtail millet, and pearl millet./6 An article in Epic Gardening gives a long and sometimes detailed discussion of millets, specifically proso, foxtail, pearl, finger, and fonio./7 Note the reference in the article to the International Year of Millets. (Although nicely written, the article has the same "split-personality" issue common to a lot of writing on millets, in that part of the time it refers to "millet" as one thing, and part of the time it discusses the diverse species of millets.) Another article lists "millet" with mention of the "Proso White" variety, among 5 grain-bearing plants suitable for home-scale growing./8 A distinction should be made here between purely decorative varieties of millets, which are also a thing, and those grown for edible grains, which are my focus here. Due to nomenclature, and the long discussion of whether or not it is a millet, the subject of sorghum tends to crop up in a different set of articles. In the first of Logsdon's articles cited above,/1 he mentions a neighbor who baked cookies from home-grown, home-milled grain sorghum. Brie Arthur, the foodscaper, discusses sorghum, but only mentions millet in mpassing, among warm-season grain crops./9 And there's a pretty detailed article on sorghum in Epic Gardening./10 Finally, the webpage that got me started on this post was one I came across by accident looking for something else. It's a very brief discussion of two varieties of sorghum by an artisanal seed producer in Canada - Mennonite and Ba-Ye-Qi./11 These are adapted to northern latitudes. (Canada, the location of this seed producer, is of course at the northern limits for various millets and sorghum, and there are interesting stories there for another post.). There are a number of videos on the above topics, which I won't try to summarize here. (If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know.) DO, EL, MI, US Notes; 1. Small Scale Grain Raising (1971; 2nd. ed. 2009, Chelsea Green Publishers) https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/small-scale-grain-raising/ 2. "You Can Raise Grains in Your Garden," Mother Earth News, 1 Jan 1978 https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/raise-grains-in-your-gard… 3. "Gene Logsdon," Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Logsdon 4. Gardening With Grains (2019, St. Lynn's Press) https://www.briegrows.com/products/gardening-with-grains 5. "Foodscaping," Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodscaping 6. "What You Need to Know About Growing Millet," Mother Earth News, 19 May 2015 https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-millet-ze0z1505zd… 7. "Millet Plant Tips: Growing Millets As Grain," Epic Gardening, 7 Mar 2022 https://www.epicgardening.com/millet-plant/ (a similar version of this article appeared on another site on 8 Mar 2022: https://my-plant.org/millet-plant-tips-expanding-millets-as-grain/ ) 8. "5 Grains to Grow in the Home Garden," Grit, 30 Nov 2015 https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/crops/5-grains-to-grow-in-the-home-gar… 9. "Gardening with Warm Season Grains," Triangle Gardener, n.d. https://www.trianglegardener.com/gardening-with-warm-season-grains/ 10. "Sorghum Plant: Food, Silage, And More," Epic Gardening, 11 Jan 2022 https://www.epicgardening.com/sorghum-plant/ 11. "Mennonite Sorghum," AnnapolisSeed.com https://annapolisseeds.com/products/mennonite-sorghum

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Slogans for publicity on millets?
by Don Osborn 08 May '22

08 May '22

Public education and marketing campaigns generally make use of some kind of slogan or catch phrase.Zoë Karl-Waithaka made reference in the context of food in her TED@BCG talk, discussed this in relationto foods in her TED talk "Got millet? How marketing could improve the lives of African farmers." The "Got millet?"/1 line played off of an actual successful campaign to boost milk consumption that used the phrase "Got milk?" An actual slogan in use now is "Let's millet," which I've seen online (#letsmillet) and which is a campaign "dedicated to creating awareness about alternative staples such as millets and sorghum and related products through a AI powered computer/mobile application for consumers."/2 So I was wondering about other possible slogans or catch phrases, with particular interest in what might work for NAMA in North America. Here are a few, without any pretense to their value or viability, but offered just to get some ideas flowing:: * Millets everywhere (these two words appear together more often than I expected, altho not commonly) * Making millets part of American life * Millets and the future of food * Championing millets producers, processors, and consumers * Tasty millets for health and sustainable agriculture * Millets, a growing part of our agriculture and food cultures * Those little millets are kind of a big deal * Eat different. Think millets. Any feedback or other ideas welcome, of course. DO Notes: 1. https://www.ted.com/talks/zoe_karl_waithaka_got_millet_how_marketing_could_… (I referenced this in an earlier post to this list) 2. https://letsmillet.org

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