Urban Grains

While it is a great pleasure for us to know that Urban Grains members have just welcomed 20kg of freshly milled flour into their homes, such a large amount can be intimidating for even an earnest baker. Complicating matters, whole grain can go rancid eventually (marked by a decidedly “off” smell). No one likes to waste good food, or lose an investment, and we’ve gotten a lot of questions about what is the best way to store your grain as you work your way through it. The short answer is threefold: in the dark, airtight, and cool (or cold). The ideal conditions for lengthening the life of whole grain flour are found in a freezer, but if you don’t have enough space there a fridge, cellar, or cool cupboard will work too.

The longer answer, if you care to read more about what exactly you should be concerned about, is below…

Read the rest of this entry »

I love what this set of photos tells about our members – look at all the ages, all the types of families and individuals, all of them smiling as they receive their flour. And check out the modes of transportation! We’ve got Agassiz wheat taking rides in wheelbarrows, panniers, bike trailers, on shoulders and in buckets. Way to make it work, guys. Big thanks, again, to all who helped haul flour for others. Your generosity is much appreciated.

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out the new Recipes page on our site, and submit your favorite to share.

We are so excited to have reached this point – last Saturday the first wave of CSA shares were picked up by this year’s members. Many thanks to UBC Farm, who generously agreed to act as the distribution site. There are still roughly 70 shares to be picked up, and this Saturday should see the majority of those going home with the rest of our members.

In blog news: Keep your eyes peeled for two posts in the coming days. First, Chris took photos of the first pick-up excitement, which we’ll be sharing soon. We’ll also be posting some advice on how best to store your flour, as requested by many of you.

And if you’ve got any questions about using that flour… It’s great to see the recipes and cookbook suggestions flowing in through the comments, and to see all of the discussion happening. In order to give you easier access to these member submissions, I’ve created a “Recipes” page on the Urban Grains site. You can access it by clicking the “Recipes” link on the page header, or by clicking here. If you’d like to add a recipe or resource (which I encourage!) submit it as an email to urbangrains@gmail.com, and I will move it up to the main text area.

Scenes from Anita’s Mill in Chilliwack last week…

The masked man bags again! Christiaan uses the large hopper to fill bags

Chris with winter wheat

The hopper, in all its glory

Totes of grain being lifted by the crane

Christiaan and Chris weighing out triticale bags

Christiaan using the sewing machine to seal the sack

Bags being loaded for transport

Boxes on the pallet, all ready to go

In the last post from mid-August we saw photos of the harvest, which was very successful but kept Jim, Diane and the kids busy as bad weather threatened to catch the crop at an inopportune time. All crises were averted, however, and the result was an abundant harvest for this year’s CSA members. Today we’re sharing photos from the farm taken last week, as the grain was loaded into the truck and driven to Anita’s mill, one step closer to it’s final destination in Vancouver.

We’re getting very close to setting a delivery time so watch this space for an update from Chris announcing pick-up times and location. In the meantime, enjoy the photos! The new faces you’ll see below are Todd Wilson, who transported the bags, and Christiaan + family, visitors to the farm. Thanks to all of those who helped out with this stage.

Todd maneuvering bags

Loading up the truck

Todd and Christiaan pause the work for a photo

Jim loads using the tractor, as Christiaan and kids look on

A job well done!

The grain arrives, safe and sound, at Anita's.