Barley is one of the oldest grains cultivated by humans, from at least 9000 years ago. It is the main ingredient for beer (malted with yeast, wheat and hops), as a dish in its own right (not very popular nowadays, but still perfectly edible), in Scottish and Irish malt whiskey (a distilled product), and as livestock feed.
Barley is still a major food crop in some parts of the world. It is rich in fibre, zinc, vitamin B6 and copper. Most health-food shops sell pearl barley (cook like mung beans) and barley flakes (use instead of bran or wheat flakes). As a foodstuff, barley has been usurped in most of the west by wheat, and is still eclipsed by rice in the hot wet climates of south and south-east Asia.
Straw from barley crops is important as bedding material for livestock, too.
Ripening barley has a distincitive smell that, according to one website, makes a farmer "want to start a combine up".
Barley is still a major food crop in some parts of the world. It is rich in fibre, zinc, vitamin B6 and copper. Most health-food shops sell pearl barley (cook like mung beans) and barley flakes (use instead of bran or wheat flakes). As a foodstuff, barley has been usurped in most of the west by wheat, and is still eclipsed by rice in the hot wet climates of south and south-east Asia.
Straw from barley crops is important as bedding material for livestock, too.
Ripening barley has a distincitive smell that, according to one website, makes a farmer "want to start a combine up".
