“Why don’t you put some of that stuff away?” she asks… Along with rye and triticale, wild and cultivated grasses are open-pollinated and all are susceptible to ergot infection. So what’s the solution?

A ripe ear of grain containing the dark, and poisonous, ergot growing on it (Getty stock) Ergot poisoining causes convulsions, hallucinations and gangrene, and in medieval times people even thought it ...