In the 1970’s David Oien’s family was told to grow soy and corn and wheat by the Nixon dept. of agriculture.
He said “I’m going to grow lentils instead.” Back then this was a revolutionary act. Lentils make their own fertilizer, so farmers don’t have to spray. They are incredible cover crops, so they actually revitalize the soil instead of depleting it in the way that monocultures like soy, corn, and wheat.
The farm David started is Timeless Seeds and the book is The Lentil Underground. 2 years ago we switched our entire chickpea/lentil buy to them. The bags of chickpeas we buy from Timeless Seeds are enormous. David is here (all the way from Montana!) to visit Clover tomorrow and we thought it would be fun for him to meet some of you. Stop by CloverHSQ (1326 Mass Ave) at lunchtime (11-2) for a free meet-and-greet.
He’s even bringing seed packets to give away so you can start your own lentil farm!