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Paper Money and Local Wheat
Feb. 1st, 2008 11:53 amHow long can paper dollars keep a house warm? by Gene Logsdon, a new favorite writer of mine.
[EDIT: The above link now actually Works]
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Local Wheat!!!
Info from an article in the Greenfield Recorder yesterday.... I'm all excited about this because we've been looking at the possibility of growing some of our own grain since we haven't been able to find local grain growers (the nearest is in New Hampshire and they only grow for King Arthur flour company).
Turns out there is some local wheat these days, just that the wheat is grown for pre-arranged dedicated buyers.
Tired of dealing with increasing prices for wheat, some local bakeries are working deals out with local farmers to have them grow wheat for them.
Tomorrow a bicycle-driven thresher and grain mill will be demonstrated at Winter Fare, a new event being held at Greenfield's Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, MA. The event runs from 10am - 2pm.
One Montague baker is planning to grow his own wheat for "Daniel Shays Bread". The owners of the Hungry Ghost Bakery in Northampton are looking for folks to grow wheat locally for them. They're looking for organically grown wheat and had been getting it from North Dakota, which is quite a ways away from Massachusetts - now there's a couple of farms growing spelt and rye for them and for another bakery in Deerfield, El Jardin Bakery. A farmer in Gill grows wheat for Bread Euphoria in Williamsburg.
The wheat being grown currently isn't enough to supply all the bakeries year-round yet, from what I can tell in the article. But assuming all goes well, farmers would probably expand their operations. L talked to his dad about it this morning, and he's open to the idea of adding it as a crop (actually he considered that if it were profitable enough, switching over from hay, but people need hay around here too).
Hungry Ghost Bakery has an interesting plan. They've managed to get seed for some heirloom varieties of grain and will be handing out seed to local customers to get them to try growing some in their yards. Then they want to pedal around Northampton to harvest it for use at the bakery. There's going to be a meeting on March 12 at 7pm at the Northampton City Hall, to teach people how to plant their small plots of wheat. There are plans to store the grain at a local barn and then give people a chance to help with milling the grain.
Massachusetts used to grow a lot of grains, I expect before the combines in the Midwest. Apparently the Connecticut Valley (part of western Mass is in this valley) was once known as the "breadbasket of New England" (Howard S. Russell 1976 history of NE farming _A Long Deep Furrow_).
Apparently some area farmers have combines (smaller than in the Midwest) and "reaper-binders that can be used for harvesting and threshing wheat", but if the operations are successful and grow, threshing, cleaning and milling the wheat and spelt could be a problem that would require trying to get a grant to help with funding. We don't have a real mill in this area.... wouldn't it be great if we could build a water/wind-powered mill? I mean, if you have to build one from scratch, might as well do it right from the start.
The demo of the bicycle-powered thresher and grain mill is from Hampshire College's appropriate technology class, and is sponsored by Hungry Ghost Bakery. There will apparently be some other activities at the Winter Fare as well, and also a winter farmers market.
Greenfield Second Congregation Church is at 16 Court Square in Greenfield, MA
[EDIT: The above link now actually Works]
***
Local Wheat!!!
Info from an article in the Greenfield Recorder yesterday.... I'm all excited about this because we've been looking at the possibility of growing some of our own grain since we haven't been able to find local grain growers (the nearest is in New Hampshire and they only grow for King Arthur flour company).
Turns out there is some local wheat these days, just that the wheat is grown for pre-arranged dedicated buyers.
Tired of dealing with increasing prices for wheat, some local bakeries are working deals out with local farmers to have them grow wheat for them.
Tomorrow a bicycle-driven thresher and grain mill will be demonstrated at Winter Fare, a new event being held at Greenfield's Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, MA. The event runs from 10am - 2pm.
One Montague baker is planning to grow his own wheat for "Daniel Shays Bread". The owners of the Hungry Ghost Bakery in Northampton are looking for folks to grow wheat locally for them. They're looking for organically grown wheat and had been getting it from North Dakota, which is quite a ways away from Massachusetts - now there's a couple of farms growing spelt and rye for them and for another bakery in Deerfield, El Jardin Bakery. A farmer in Gill grows wheat for Bread Euphoria in Williamsburg.
The wheat being grown currently isn't enough to supply all the bakeries year-round yet, from what I can tell in the article. But assuming all goes well, farmers would probably expand their operations. L talked to his dad about it this morning, and he's open to the idea of adding it as a crop (actually he considered that if it were profitable enough, switching over from hay, but people need hay around here too).
Hungry Ghost Bakery has an interesting plan. They've managed to get seed for some heirloom varieties of grain and will be handing out seed to local customers to get them to try growing some in their yards. Then they want to pedal around Northampton to harvest it for use at the bakery. There's going to be a meeting on March 12 at 7pm at the Northampton City Hall, to teach people how to plant their small plots of wheat. There are plans to store the grain at a local barn and then give people a chance to help with milling the grain.
Massachusetts used to grow a lot of grains, I expect before the combines in the Midwest. Apparently the Connecticut Valley (part of western Mass is in this valley) was once known as the "breadbasket of New England" (Howard S. Russell 1976 history of NE farming _A Long Deep Furrow_).
Apparently some area farmers have combines (smaller than in the Midwest) and "reaper-binders that can be used for harvesting and threshing wheat", but if the operations are successful and grow, threshing, cleaning and milling the wheat and spelt could be a problem that would require trying to get a grant to help with funding. We don't have a real mill in this area.... wouldn't it be great if we could build a water/wind-powered mill? I mean, if you have to build one from scratch, might as well do it right from the start.
The demo of the bicycle-powered thresher and grain mill is from Hampshire College's appropriate technology class, and is sponsored by Hungry Ghost Bakery. There will apparently be some other activities at the Winter Fare as well, and also a winter farmers market.
Greenfield Second Congregation Church is at 16 Court Square in Greenfield, MA
