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If you like buckwheat, this scent should prompt you to stop or at least stop. There may be a desire to try sandwiches, although the Ekofrisa company, located here, does not treat guests with their products on site; offers to visit an electronic store or browse stores on organic shelves.
Ecological and Lithuanian
Organic products are an important part of the company’s production. According to the company’s export director, Ieva Ragauskienė, only buckwheat grown in Lithuania is processed, as well as other crops: wheat, barley, peas. The production of organic products started here since 2008, when the company existed for five years.
This year’s harvest was a bit worrisome, as although much more buckwheat was planted, its harvest was quite poor. Therefore, you will have to deal with as much raw material as you can buy from Lithuanian producers.
“Of course we eat buckwheat and the rest,” laughs Ieva Ragauskienė, when asked if she likes buckwheat porridge. – But I try to improve the porridge, I don’t eat much. For example, you can sprinkle sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, onions, mash the avocado, and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Mix buckwheat with millet grains, because the cooking time is similar and the taste is wonderful. “
I.Ragauskienė says that the company processes really large amounts of buckwheat: one year, about 10 thousand. tons, although it could be even more.
I try to improve the porridge, one that I don’t eat much. Suppose you can sprinkle sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, onions, mash avocado, and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
“Furthermore, it is very important to us not only what we produce, how much we produce and how much we sell, it is also very important to us how we do everything. We have solar panels on both sides of the area, we produce our own electricity. Our opinion is that going green not only means buying organic raw materials from organic fields, but sustainability is important to us in the production itself. This is the attitude of the owners and the director of the company, ”said Ieva.
Buckwheat husks are burned during production: peeled buckwheat remains as garbage, which is perfect for producing the steam necessary for production, as well as for heating facilities in winter. A new buckwheat processing shop is also promised this fall, with plans to automate all equipment.
Praise the mulch
As Eva says, buckwheat husks are used for other things too. Suppose you cover the soil with mulch.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Producers of organic buckwheat “Ekofrisa”
“The shell remains naturally in the production process, it can be called garbage. But it is necessary. We export most of them to other countries in Europe or East Asia, to fill pillows and mattresses. But we also decided to sell mulch, we put it in bags and little by little we moved and talked, both on social media and elsewhere.
Participation in the exhibition “What to sow” a year ago was a success. We do not participate with the aim of selling, but we organize an education: we educate the consumer, we stood up and told him. Brochures, talking, showing “, – I.Ragauskienė talked about the new product.
Yet another discovery this year was invaded by invasive slugs, which we suspected were not very fond of buckwheat husks.
According to her, bags with mulch are sold both in the company’s electronic store and in one of the retail chains, the product is gaining popularity. And this year it was discovered that it can also protect garden or garden plants from pests.
“Another discovery from this year was that invasive slugs attacked, so we suspect they didn’t like buckwheat husks very much. But it is necessary to demonstrate what we are going to talk about here. It is step by step, word for word, we talk with some, among ourselves. We agreed with the Kaunas College professor, he conducted an experiment in the Kaunas Botanical Garden, described it in an article and is now preparing an article for an international audience in which buckwheat husk mulch forms a barrier against those slugs.
When the grass, garden and orchard are soaked in buckwheat husks, slugs do not attack. Not that this mulch destroys those slugs, but it prevents them from going to the plants. While living in the city, I have a bed, of which I am very happy: it is something ideal for a lazy garden: through the window you can see a beautiful black earth, the grass does not attack, because the complex of men on Mulch and its benefits could talk for hours on end.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Ieva Ragauskienė (left) and Vaida Jančiauskienė
According to her, buckwheat husk mulch does not acidify the soil, protects from moisture evaporation, barriers should be installed during laying and touched to prevent the wind from spreading.
Also think about organic fertilizers
Apparently, what else can buckwheat or groats be used for? It turns out that there are still opportunities.
“The circular economy is very important to us, we only need one step. Therefore, we are cooperating with scientists until there is no technology to process the primary cleanings of imported grain. Now we put them on farms, in the fields, because there is no technology in the world to recycle.
We are cooperating with scientists from VMU, we are currently doing an experiment in the Botanical Garden, we may not be successful soon, we may need several such experiments, but we hope to have technologies that produce very good compost or even excellent organic fertilizer in a year, depending on the additives. scientists will agree on what is best.
Then the circle is closed: the steam necessary for the process is formed by burning buckwheat husks, we supply electricity from the sun, we clean the garbage and use it in biocomposting ”, said I. Ragauskienė.
The circular economy is very important to us, just one step away. Provided that there is no technology to process the primary cleaning of imported grain.
Competition in the buckwheat market is high, but exceeds 80 percent. the company exports its products to Western Europe. It is precisely for this reason that this brand has not been known in Lithuania for a long time, because with it the production was small, more often factory-processed buckwheat and other grains reached the stalls under other names.
Who eats organic buckwheat in Lithuania?
When asked who are the buyers of organic buckwheat and its products in Lithuania, Ieva says that these are the so-called Millennium and Z immediate people: they are educated, they carefully study food labels and they know exactly what is written on them . The most important thing for them is not the price, so organic products do not compete with cheaper products. But social media has an impact, so they are actively trying to communicate, says Ieva.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Producers of organic buckwheat “Ekofrisa”
According to her, buckwheat is also popular with those people who are sensitive to gluten and therefore avoid wheat. “Buckwheat is not even sand, it is pseudo grit, because it is a herbaceous plant, so buckwheat is a seed, it is equivalent to the Bolivian pigeon now very fashionable. But the latter comes from Latin America, so we should also think about CO2 emissions, if we are already talking about sustainable food. Buckwheat grows here in Lithuania. Of course, its mineral materials are different, but it contains many useful substances for us, ”says I. Ragauskien asegura.
There are two types of buckwheat grains on the market: the green, which is even less common, which is peeled buckwheat, and the brown, which is common for us, which is heat treated with husk and then peeled.
Buckwheat is not even sand, it is pseudo-grit because it is a herbaceous plant, so buckwheat is a seed, equivalent to the now extremely fashionable Bolivian pigeon.
Vaida Jančiauskienė, project manager of the company, emphasizes that buckwheat generally grows on infertile land, in Dzūkija, Švenčionys region. Raw materials are purchased from organic farms for organic and simple to conventional products.
Both workers laugh that another activity grew out of that great love for buckwheat:
“We opened a new workshop, we brought special equipment to form bars and those delicacies. These are organic gluten-free products made from buckwheat. There are cereals, here are the products based on buckwheat. For us this is news, a new baby, we release it more widely in the spring. We have already received awards, because a very interesting recipe, we use not only fruits, berries, but also vegetables in such an interesting mixture with buckwheat. Two products are vegan, one with honey, only vegetarian.
We have crispy, baked. Buckwheat fries are a very good product because the only ingredient is buckwheat, no salt or anything else. We do not stop there, we are currently testing and developing a new product: a buckwheat food that can be mixed, shaken with milk, water or something similar and consumed for lunch. Of course, it’s not a substitute for food, but sometimes it’s really appropriate when you’re in a rush. “
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