Consider cooking with barley

Cat Campbell/For The Madera Tribune

Hungry for a hearty soup? Try some mushroom barley soup.

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My dad used to grow hay, and he planted two kinds of oats and some barley. I used to help out with things like driving the tractor when it was time to pick up bales out in the field.

They were only two-wire bales, so were not extremely heavy, but I was expecting my first-born, so I got the easy job. I did this in exchange for hay for my Appaloosa horse.

I was in 4-H as a kid, and a livestock leader as an adult, so I always had an appreciation for various kinds of grains. While not much of a fan of oatmeal (unless my mom put a lot of additives in, such as raisins, bacon or brown sugar), I did enjoy meals that included barley.