History of wheat in Finland

Together with rice and corn, wheat is one of the most widely cultivated and oldest cereals in the world. Up until the twentieth century, only limited amounts of wheat were grown in Finland, and wheat dishes were delicacies enjoyed by a select few.

Wheat emerges first in the Pre-Roman Iron Age in the Finnish material. The earliest evidence is from the dwelling site complex around the Rapola hill fort in Häme, which has been one of the most important settlement concentrations in the inland from the Pre-Roman Iron Age until the historical period.

In the warm Bronze Age club wheat was common in central Finland, but it had disappeared towards the much colder Early Iron Age (200 BC-200 AD). Both spring and winter wheat were grown in the 16th century, but both were insignificant compared to rye.

Very little wheat was grown in nineteenth-century Finland, and it could not be ground in ordinary mills. Only industrialization made wheat flour commonplace. In the Finnish foodstuffs industry, the use of rye and oats has increased, while the use of wheat has slightly decreased.
History of wheat in Finland

History of Black Mustard

History of Black Mustard
Black mustard or Brassica nigra is native to the Mediterranean region, where it is reported as a fossil from prehuman Pleistocene time. The species probably joined Neolithic agriculture as a volunteer in wheat and barley fields, spreading with those crops through Eurasia and North Africa.

Millennia later, Brassica nigra went with those crops oversea, its seeds often carried accidentally with the cereal grain. In California, for example, it was a weed during the Spanish period and remains are common in adobe bricks of the early mission.

Like other mustards Brassica nigra is used as a green vegetable and as a source of mild tasting nonvolatile oil expressed from the seed. However, its main use has been as a spice. Use of mustard seed as a spice dates from the beginning of written history in Babylonia and India and is abundantly recorded in classical Greek, Roman, and biblical sources. Although other species of Brassica were also used, it seems likely that Brassica nigra was the main source in ancient history as it has been in modern history.

Traditionally, mustard is prepared by mixing a small amount of seed of white mustard Sinapis alba, other spices, and a lot of Brassica nigra seed. In ancient times, volunteer plants wee probably more than adequate without deliberate planting. Cultivation of Brassica nigra as a field crop came after Medieval times, along with commercial production in Düsseldorf, Dijon and a few other European towns.
History of Black Mustard