October 20th, 2010 by Admin
To all of our members: thank you for your support – each and every one of you!
We are pleased to announce that the second and final weekend of Urban Grains distribution is now complete. Hopefully, many of you have already dived right in to baking and cooking with your bounty! Thank you for joining us this year, thank you for following along during the season, and thank you for putting in your time to pick up shares.
And while we’re at it, a big thanks to NOWBC for hosting us. And, of course, we really cannot give enough thanks to our ‘grower family’, Jim and Diane and their children, for joining us on Saturday afternoon and bringing us full circle on the grain experience – from seeding, to growing, to milling and, finally, to distribution.
Over the coming weeks we will be updating the blog with stories, recipes and “From the Farm” photos and updates – so stay tuned.
**For those of you we missed seeing this weekend, please check your email for information regarding your share and pick-up opportunities.
Thanks again!
Your Urban Grains Team
October 12th, 2010 by Admin
This is the exciting part, folks! Over the past weekend more than half of our 2010 shares were picked up by members at our east Vancouver distribution spot. We hope that some of you have already enjoyed a batch of rolls or pumpkin pie made with this year’s Urban Grains bounty.
The fun continues this coming weekend, which will be the final chance for members to pick up shares.
Final distribution times: Friday Oct. 15, 4-8pm and Saturday Oct. 16, 10-4pm. (Check our previous email announcement for location details.)
As always, contact us if needed at urbangrains@ffcf.bc.ca
October 8th, 2010 by Admin
Chris knows a thing or two about grain…
PEDDLING THE WAY TO LOCAL GRAIN WITH THE FLOUR PEDDLER
Sat Oct 16, 3pm at the Roundhouse Cultural Centre, Room C, $10
This workshop will explore emerging and existing grain chains in Southwestern B.C., in addition to looking at some of the history of grain growing in the province. Opportunities to purchase freshly milled local grain available. This presentation is part of Farm Folk / City Folk’s Sustenance: Feasting on Art & Culture Festival (Oct 8-16)
Register at www.roundhouse.ca
October 1st, 2010 by Admin
Meet the Clipper. She was built in the 1920s and needed quite a bit of work done before she was in working order. As the largest machine on the farm, the Clipper is able to move the most grain per hour; having her around greatly speeds up the job.
In this shot you can see where Jim has rigged up pipes to catch the chaff and weed seeds that flow out of spouts on the side of the Clipper.
A series of screens with differently shaped holes each filter out particular types of unwanted material. One with round holes (marked RH in the photo above) filters out weed seeds. A slotted tray removes the chaff.
The Hero is fed from a large tote bag, which hangs from the tractor bucket (outside the frame). This avoids the need for manual feeding by bucket load, but still requires a watchful eye.
A modern addition: plywood has been added to reinforce the Clipper's aging hopper.
Finally! Clean seed lands in the tote after being fed through the machine. This is the product which leaves the farm and makes it way home to you.
But what of all that "waste" we filtered out of the original harvest? Not waste at all - this will be used to feed chickens over the winter.
