Recognized by his wide brimmed hat and ponytail, Larry Kandarian has been bringing ancient grains like einkorn, tef, and Ethiopian blue tinge farro from San Luis Obispo to the market for the last 15 years. Putting his mechanical engineering degree to good use, he helped design the USB port for Raytheon back in 1970 and worked on the computer test set for the first space shuttle.
Eickhorn, Ethiopian blue tinge farro, and this Tibetan black barley are a few varieties that Kandarian grows on his farm in San Luis Obispo. Photo by Gillian Ferguson.
With dirt under his fingernails from farming as a child, Larry was recruited to work for Bodger Seeds by a professor of his from Fresno State. He started designing machinery. He recalls growing flowers across their 57 ranches. "We were growing everything red, white, and blue, because '76 was a bicentennial," he says.
He pivoted to grains in 2007 during the recession. Larry always exhibited a willingness to experiment with trials of seeds with approximately 1,000 varieties at Kandarian Organic Farms.
Larry's last day at the Santa Monica Farmers Market will be Wednesday, May 14 before retiring to Michoacan with his wife.