Millet's Milieu

By Audrey Stallsmith

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof. . .

Ezekiel 4:9

This time of year my free-ranging guinea hens love to scavenge under the bird feeder, to peck up as much millet as they can find.  That seed is so popular with them that it often is called “guinea corn."

Those birds originated in the African savannah, as did pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), which means "blue-gray feather bristle."  I’m guessing it’s probably just a coincidence that the most prevalent color for guineas also is called pearl!

They aren't the only birds which favor millet seed, since an old Turkish proverb advises that “Who fears the sparrows must not sow millet.”  And a Bajan adage on greed warns that “There is no nice bird in the millet.”   

In fact, the types grown in this country, usually either the proso (Panicum miliaceum) or foxtail (Setaria italica) varieties, are most likely to end up either in seed for wild or domestic birds or in livestock feed.  That may be changing, though.  The current interest in gluten-free foods has some calling millet “the new quinoa.”

There’s really nothing new about it since, as implied by its mention in the Bible verse above, millet is one of the oldest of cultivated crops.  Also one of the most water efficient, it was planted as long as 7500 years ago in the Orient. 

Actually a type of annual grass, it grows quickly to heights of 40 to 50 inches—sometimes producing seed within 45 days.  In fact, it often was a favorite with nomadic tribes who could sow, stow, and ciao. 

Today, there also are ornamental millets you can grow in your flower garden, one of the most striking being ‘Purple Majesty,’ a tall, dark, and handsome type of pearl millet.  After the seeds are gone, you might even be able to make ornamental brooms out of it, since some of the millets also are called broom corn.

At any rate, we shouldn’t be letting the birds hog all of this particular grain, since it is a rich source of protein, fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, and manganese.  Down through history, millet has been used in a wide variety of food and drinks from liquors to breads to porridges.   

A Chinese saying speaks of “a dream that lasts merely a millet soup’s cooking time.”  That usually is about fifteen minutes, though the grains reportedly should be allowed to sit for 10 to 15 minutes after their boiling to absorb moisture.   

Like the sparrows attracted to it, millet is "as common as grass" in some cultures.  It seemingly gets no respect, since even Archibald Lampman’s poem “Among the Millet” actually was about the clouds overhead instead.  And Muna Lee’s “Behind the House Is the Millet Plot” really concerned the clover-clothed hill beyond that plot.  But we can hope that this grain will yet get its 15 minutes, even if that only is cooking time rather than fame! 

 

The image of Panicum miliaceum is by J. S. Kerner from Abbildungen aller ökonomischen Pflanzen, roughly translated "Images of All Economic Plants," courtesy of plantillustrations.org.