One of the many original species of wheat, spelt (Triticum spelta) is a cross between emmer wheat and goat grass. It’s grown today in precisely the same form in which it was cultivated 9000 years ago in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia. By 2000 BCE, spelt was being grown in Europe, and went on to become a main crop in what is now southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland (where it is known as dinkel), and was in common usage in southern Britain by around 500 BCE. Today, it’s valued for its hardiness and superior nutritional content compared with wheat (see sidebar opposite page).
Organic roots
Harry Russell-Bowen is a fourth-generation farmer. He and his parents, Nigel Bowen and Jane Russell-Bowen, grow a range of crops and raise sheep and beef
