An Italian Farmer Found Some Unknown Seeds in His Attic and Planted Them

In the early 1990s, a farmer named Claudio Grossi in Parma, Italy, was cleaning his attic and stumbled upon an old sack of seeds. The bag was likely left by his great-grandfather who started the farm in 1915. Grossi had no way of knowing how long the seeds had been stored, as they were dry, cracked, and unremarkable. He decided to discard them into a pile of manure but later noticed they had sprouted a variety of wheat.

One type was notably tall, towering about six feet high, which was twice as tall as the commercial wheat he had seen before. What made this wheat truly remarkable were its ears - the grain-studded parts at the top of the plant. While other wheat varieties typically grew only one ear, this tall wheat produced seven ears, each accompanied by a long one with six shorter ones around it.

The kernels themselves were larger than those of average wheat and came in various colors - yellow, black, red, white, and even green on the same stem. Grossi, a lifelong grain farmer, had never encountered anything like this before. He considered it a freak of nature and couldn't find any mention of it in agricultural books. However, a Bible passage in Genesis describing a stalk with seven ears that Joseph interprets for the Pharaoh made him ponder if this mysterious crop could be ancient.

Upon harvesting the grain, milling it into flour, and baking a loaf of bread, Grossi found that the bread had a rich and satisfying taste, with a sweetness not found in regular commercial flour. This "miracle grain," or "miracle wheat," turned out to be hardier and more self-sufficient than commercial varieties, performing well during droughts and not requiring fertilizer or herbicides.

At the time, Italy was experiencing a slow-food movement, aiming to preserve traditional farming practices and promote natural diets. Grossi believed that miracolo could appeal to this movement, becoming a link to the past and a future solution to modern agricultural challenges. Climate change has intensified droughts, heat waves, and plant disease outbreaks, making grains that can withstand such conditions more valuable.

The discovery of miracolo came at a crucial time for Italian farmers, who had been previously reliant on imported wheat due to their own inability to sustainably produce enough grain. This ancient wheat could potentially help farmers return to traditional practices, contributing to a more sustainable future for bread production in the face of climate change.