Barley

The barley grown on a large scale in Madeira and Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) is Hordeum vulgare, subspecies hexastichum; the subspecies distichum, known as cevada trigo (‘wheat barley’), occurs only in a few localities on the first of these islands.

Barley is grown mainly in the low-lying part of Madeira, but in some places it reaches almost to the uplands, where it is generally harvested in August and sown in February. In the lower zone (coastal belt) it is sown in December and January and harvested in June and July.

Barley soup is one of the staple foods of Madeira’s country people, and the flour is used to make rosquilhas (ring-shaped rolls) and biscuits, particularly on the island of Porto Santo. The straw is used to thatch huts and to feed stalled cattle.

The archipelago produces some 6,000 hectolitres of barley a year.