ZEA

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Biologicalenrichment

ZEA

Zea is the genus name for corn. It is the Greek word meaning bread. The first Zea grain goes back to at least 12,000 years ago. Evidence was recently found in a cave in Turkey that Zea grains were cultivated from wild plants in the region.  Zea highlights the power of an ancient grain shared cross culturally as a staple food filled with health giving properties much like corn is today. Farro is closely related to Zea. Occasionally I will buy the whole grain farro at the health food store and make a porridge out of it for lunch at my farm. Alexander the Great consumed it. The ancient Egyptians preferred it. Kenny the farmer from Michigan ate it. It is the ‘life giving’ grain mentioned in the Illiad.  I began wondering if corn had a similar origin as a grain which also contained life giving properties. For me the northern highland teosinte was the North American Zea. It too was untended and found growing in the rocks and cracks of a high elevation mountain desert. It too was shared cross culturally as a form of popcorn and made into porridge. This was the Zea I was looking for.  Here is what I found.

Plate one; Zea mays var. mexicana selections

Plate two; Zea mays var. mexicana x pop and sweet corn

Plate three; Zea mays var. mexicana x pop corn mixtures

Plate four: Zea mays var. mexicana x heirloom purple sweet corn

Plate five: We’re going to need a smaller sheller. Not adapted to modern or even a quasi-primitive hand held corn technology. Is Zea a grain without a means to make it useful on a broader scale?

My experiences:

  • dwarf annual grass
  • 30 day corn
  • dark purple pigmentation in foliage and kernels
  • popcorn from an ancient grain
  • diverse progeny in an open pollinated population
  • low water-xerophyte of a common food plant
  • Nutrient and Mineral Dense Grain
  • self-seeding
  • freedom of expression-you cannot stop it
  • continuation of wild corn without boundaries
  • new evolutionary and ecological trajectories for ZEA.
  • lunch
Teosinte corn bread made with 25 percent Ashworth sweet corn flour. Ground in an old Vitamix blender. Like grinding buckshot, the kernels were incredibly hard and heated up the metal top quickly. The sound could be heard for miles! I wore protective eye and ear gear. The flavor was mineral like with a strong corny flavor. Betty Crocker recipe.

Enjoy,

Kenneth Asmus

NEOSINTE-TEOSINTE SEEDS AVAILABLE

Available only within the U.S.A. Supporting my seed sales helps me continue my search for Zea. Thank you.

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About Biologicalenrichment

I started a farm in the early 1980’s called Oikos Tree Crops. It was once a 13 acre pasture and with the help of many worldwide plants became a forest. Today I am dedicated more than ever to finding, preserving, creating and disseminating a wide variety of food plants. At my farm I explore new plants and healthy ways to raise them. I currently focus my attention on my seed repository while providing seeds and bring these new discoveries to the public at large. My farm is one of the oldest and most diverse maintained tree crop plantings in the U.S. using many plants from around the world as a form of global agroforestry applied at a local level. Every plant grown on my farm is grown from seeds. I use the tree crop philosophy as a means to expand the use of perennial, woody tree and shrub crops raised from seed without the use of chemical and high energy inputs.The two story agriculture is alive and well at Oikos Tree Crops. This blog highlights ecological enrichment as a means to improve human health and raise awareness of the possibilities of creating a healthy earth and a wealthy farmer. My story is told by describing my 50 years of farming and life experiences surrounding agriculture filled with my love of nature and my constant search for a greater diversity beyond the cultivar on a global stage.
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