One of the most difficult-to-grow food crops for those living in mountainous areas such as the Ozarks regions of Arkansas and Missouri is grain. Because most of us who live on "Billy goat land" do not farm row crops in large quantities, we rarely grow much of our own wheat, barley, oats, etc. And in fact, when some of us try to grow corn, wildlife gets 99% of it.

Is there a seed/grain that can be cultivated, and also planted "in the wild" that is a good, local replacement for wheat, corn, and the like? Gama Grass, tripsacum dactyloides, might be just the thing. Gama grass, being a distant relative of cultivated corn, has large seeds, is a perennial, and is easy to grow, once planted. In fact, there is nothing to do but harvest, once a stand is established.

Gama grass is reported to be an excellent food crop for livestock, and because it is in the grass family, it should be edible for humans. It is, according to some sources, exceedingly productive and cultivated in the West Indies, Mexico, and the Southern states of North America. Further, it is much more amenable to quail as the long arching leaves, which radiate out from a central location, provide excellent cover for young quail at a time when they are most vulnerable to hawks and other predators, whereas fescue is useless for quail cover.

Gama grass grows well in Missouri's Ozarks, and should grow equally well, or better, in Arkansas, whether on private or public land. All it needs is some moisture and some sun, preferably full sun. I plan to grind into flour some of the Gama grass seeds I've collected this year, and will experiment with flatbreads, crackers, etc.

Stay tuned for a report on the use of Gama grass in the human food chain. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures. "GamaGrass1.JPG" and "GamaGrass2.JPG" show the seed stalks up close and personal. (Forgive the lack of good resolution in one pic.) As each seed ripens, it literally falls into your hand. The "Corn+Gama1.JPG" and "Corn+Gama2.JPG" pictures show Gama grass seeds adjacent to cultivated corn seeds. The deep red corn is a variety known as Bloody Butcher. The other ears are some variant of "Indian Corn". Note the size of many of the Gama grass kernels is larger than that of the Bloody Butcher corn seeds. Of course, this is not meant to disparage corn or its usefulness, but to show how a little-known food crop is out there/out here waiting to be planted in more locales.