Is all barley edible by humans?

Let me see...I started my Mexican life in 1981, living in Tijuana and working as a social worker in the city jail there.

So 32 years, no? Long time.

Barley is very edible. All barley is the same but when eaten by humans has been pearled, which means that the outer husk and bran have been removed along with most of the nutrients. Pearling is done with equipment that costs some $$.

Health food stores in Mexico sell pearled barley for 50-60 pesos/kg to a few nuts like me. The beer producers use about 70% of the barley grown in Mexico. It's grown on contract by many farmers here in the Bajio as a good income supplement.

If their harvested barley is spoiling before it gets around to being fed to animals, it's not been dried enough. Barley is like most other grains, and needs to be dried down to about 12% moisture or else it will get moldy in storage.

They can spread the newly harvested barley on clean screened frames set up on blocks out in the sunshine and to let the air circulate to dry further, taking care that it doesn't get rained on. A few days in the sun and it will keep for a couple of years without spoilage if they store it where it won't get wet or damp again. They have enough hands to help do this.

Whole barley should only be fed to animals, but it can be threshed the old fashioned way to remove the outer hull so it can be eaten by humans. Here is some info on basic threshing that would work in their situation, and again, they have the manpower to do it:

http://www.islandgrains.com/how-do-i-thresh-grain-on-a-small-scale/

The bigger factor in play may be the fuel question. If they cook over wood, the extra cooking time means more fuel over an ordinary fire typically used in rural Mexico. They may cook with three rocks, a fire that they keep shoving wood into, and a sheet of steel on top that they place the pots and food on.

Here is one potential solution for a fire that gets a lot more of the energy out of the same wood, and was designed to be made in a rural setting for no cost. It is like a modified rocket stove. Watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-7orowqP0U

Barley takes longer than rice to cook. Pearled barley usually takes about 45 minutes simmering and hulled barley maybe an hour as opposed to me getting rice done in 30 minutes.. It can be added to a pot that is cooking beans, or as a healthy addition to any soup that is boiled. It is gummier than rice.

If they do thresh their barley, it would then become "hulled" barley, not "pearled". Pearled barley is taken one step further to further remove the bran and any remaining husk, and the equipment to do so would be expensive for them..

The stove that was in the video would use a lot less wood to do the same thing, especially things like beans that need more cooking time..