My wife, Brooke, and I live here in the Methow Valley for a variety of reasons; foremost is for the wild and relatively pristine environment of this mountainous valley. Love of the land has been a mainstay in our relationship from the beginning. It has continued in our relationship with our children and has grown into the lifeblood of our business.

In these Cascade foothills of northern Washington, both western and mountain bluebirds return early each spring and dot the April landscape about the time the last snow patches dissipate and we begin working our fields. We think the birds define the health of our home place and, ultimately, our farm. Thus, Bluebird Grain Farms came to life!

We are about health here at Bluebird. It begins with maintaining a healthy landscape so we can grow nutritious crops to pass on quality food that we feel confident in feeding our children so we can, in turn, feel confident in sharing it with our customers. Here’s the good news we try to keep in mind: All that we need to grow highly nutritious grains is available from nature. Learning the ways in which foods grow naturally can require some serious patience at times, but, in the end, we feel this is the sustainable way.

The fun is in each new discovery, the implementation thereof and, eventually, realizing the benefits. This is the premise in which we operate our 200‐plus acres of farm land: Pure and simple.

Grains are among the oldest foods known to man. Of the wild grains, emmer is thought to be the first cultivated grain in the Fertile Crescent. After following this grain around as he did wild meat and other foods, man began to collect and plant the emmer seed. Many believe this was the cornerstone of permanence: the dawn of agriculture.

The fact that emmer was one of the primary staples in man’s diet for 10,000 years comes as little surprise given its genetic simplicity and nutritional attributes. This dense grain is very high in simple, complete proteins, available amino acids, abundant trace minerals and fiber. So man made flour, cereals, pastas, beer… first from emmer.

Once we began growing emmer we fell in love with most every aspect of it, from planting to the table. The fact that it jumps right from the ground within a week of planting and affords a deep, green field for weeks to come so bluebirds can flit about made us feel OK. Then to watch it stretch up waist high at its peak, then slowly cure beneath our dry, late summer skies and eventually droop and turn to a silvery gold for harvest.

Visionary delight aside, emmer did present some challenges at harvest, as we used much more modern mechanics than were applied 10,000 years ago, and again in the final milling stages, separating the hull from the fruit in a fashion that would give us a perfect whole grain. But then the taste — the nutty, chewy, yummy cooked grain itself. And the naturally sweet, whole flour for muffins, breads and pastas. Here was something we were proud to feed our children — and our customers.