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Whole Barley

Details  

You can use whole barley for sprouting for human consumption.
Apart from that you use is for feeding chooks and other animals.

Alli Smith

Details   I use Milmore products in baking for my B and B 'The Lodge at Hare's Rest'. I am passionate about sourcing organic goods from NZ suppliers. I love their flour and my guests love the bread and other home baked goods.
Date   September 21, 2022
Biogro Certified

Biogro Certified

Milmore downs is BioGro licensee 019, making it one of the very early certifications as it joined the BPCC in 1986 just three years after gaining Demeter certification. This move was intended as an indication of support for the fledgling organisation but the hope was also to draw Biodynamics and main stream organics closer together. The two standards have differences in detail, but are nevertheless not very far apart and cooperation is the only sensible relationship.

Subsequently, after becoming an approved Third Party Agency with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) for exports to Europe and the USA, Milmore Downs along with a number of other Demeter growers have used BioGro certification to gain access to overseas markets. Although our aim is to concentrate on domestic sales for several reasons but also to strengthen the comsumer producer relationship. Currently we still need to use the export market for our lambs and cattle, and they go there under the BioGro banner.

BioGro is New Zealand's main organic certification agency. Established in 1983 as the BPCC (Biological Producers and Consumers Council) in conjunction with the Biodynamic Association and Henry Doubleday to support all organics, it later registered the BioGro logo and now certifies over 900 operations New Zealand wide.
Buy Wheat Bran

Buy Wheat Bran

Details   Wheat bran is a component in the whole wheat grain, and contains a high amount of fibre as well as other nutrients like protein, calcium and iron. Many times, this ingredient is added to healthy muffin recipes to increase the nutrient content, as well as to create a heavier, denser muffin or cake.

Carol's flat Breads

2 cups of Milmore flour (I use wholemeal spelt and rye, but white is fine too), ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ to 1 ts salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in 1 cup of warm water. Mix to make a soft but not sticky dough. Kneed for 5 minutes and leave covered to rest for 10 or more minutes.
Split into 8 equal balls and roll out to about 24 cm rounds - use plenty of flour to do this.
When I get to four left to roll, I put my heavy bottom pan on the stove top to heat – I use a medium heat.
Cook each bread like this: Watch the bread and when you see little air bubbles appearing in the bread turn it (takes 15-30 seconds and the bread goes a little darker), cook on the other side for the same time (it depends on your pan and your heat how long). Then flip over again and use a fish slice to push the bread onto the surface of the pan (only for about 10-15 seconds) – it should get air bubbles in it that you keep pushing down (but this depends on your flour and is not essential); turn over and do the same to the others side. Put the bread on a rack and cover with a tea towel. Repeat with the other seven breads, stacking them on top of each other under the tea towel.
The breads will stay fresh for a couple of days if sealed in a plastic bag but I put mine in the freezer while they are still warm and take them out to make in the mornings for lunches. They only take a couple of minutes to defrost on the bench.
I spread either chutney or pesto on the bread and fill with salad vegetables. They are nice with hot egg in them also. You can use them for spring roll wrappers and deep fry them, but personally I like them for lunch with salad in them.

Rye

Rye

Rye grows much better in cooler and drier regions than wheat, and also performs well on sandy soils. Rye is a 'light' germinator needing to be sown shallowly into a well prepared seed bed. Compaction or wet feet have a severe effect on rye and yields can slump dramatically if such conditions arise. It is wind pollinated to a substantial degree. This allows the introduction of outside lines which become 'integrated' over subsequent generations –
the rye variety on Milmore Downs has developed over 30 years from four main seed sources.

Our rye is popular because it bakes well (typically falling number values are high). However, the baking qualities of rye flour are fundamentally different to those of wheat. This is due to the enzyme constituents - rye flour has amylum destructive amylases which hinders raising and therefore it needs to be baked using sourdough as the raising agent. Pumpernickel, made solely from rye flour and kibbled rye is a well known type of rye bread, but very often rye is mixed into bread made with other grains.

Our rye flour is a wholemeal flour and milled in Zentrofan mills which produced a very finely milled flour. Learn more about our grain processing.

Flakes need to breath, please open bags directly after you got them.

All rye products are BioGro* certified

Baking with Rye

We personally like a wheat/spelt 80% rye 20% bread very much. The bread stays longer moist and is very tasty.

Friends of ours make a 100% rye bread. It needs a bit of patience to produce: recipe for about 4 loaves
Sourdough needs to be prepared or bought.

Grind 8 cups of Milmore whole rye or mix Milmore rye flour 2/3 with 1/3 of kibbled rye, add 1½ cup sourdough, gently stir to make a moist slurry, plenty of moisture activates the dough. Place it in a warm place, leave for 6-8 hours, cover to prevent surface drying.

Optional: Put 2-400 g of seed separately (linseed, sunflower, pumpkin etc) to soak at the same time.

The slurry will have risen and be well fermented containing plenty of air bubbles.
(Take out ½ cup sourdough starter for your next bread; add to this lukewarm water and 1 cup rye flour – drier consistency this time to slow fermentation processes. Leave for a while in the warm, then place your sourdough starter in the fridge for a fortnight for use in your next bread).
To your prepared dough add another 6 cups of rye flour, add 4-6 tsp salt, add the seeds you soaked earlier; gently stir to make a moist slurry.
Gently transfer the mixture into greased bread forms. They should be half full. Place in a warm place, cover to retain moisture and leave for 2-4 hours. Heat the oven to 220 degree C. Place the bread into the oven and pour some water for moisture onto the bottom of the oven. Bake for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for about 45 min more. Open the oven door, but leave the bread in the oven to gently lose heat for 10 min. Take the tins out of the oven and tip out the bread. Check if cooked by knocking underside of bread – it should sound hollow. Place on a grid to cool off, then in an earthenware bread container with small air vent on top to keep your rye bread fresh for a fortnight.

Eva

Eva

Eva was born in Germany and studied agriculture there. She has always had a strong interest in ecology and organics and with her green thumb gardening skills became committed to Biodynamics. Eva had developed an organic community garden as part of the ecology faculty of Stuttgart Polytech. Her years of experience with alternative ideas and green philosophies was put to good use developing courses on a wide range of topics including nutrition, fitness and other areas of sustainable living.

Ian and Eva are now in a supporting role on the farm. What that actually entails varies a lot depending on season, work load and availability of labour, but in any case they keep a close eye on Biodynamic preparation making and use. Eva loves working outside, but also processes farm products for the family. In addition to her practical gardening skills her strengths are in communications and public relations.

Baking Rye Bread

We personally like a wheat/spelt (about 80%) rye (about 20%) bread very much. The bread stays longer moist and is very tasty.

 

Dinkel Bread

Dinkel flour can be used in exactly the same way as wheat flour – just replace the flour in any recipe with Dinkel flour. It might soak up a bit more water. Dinkel flour does not like a lot of beating, better stir the dough gently.

Buy Our Grain Products

Buy Our Grain Products

Milmore Downs and partner farms specialise in quality organic grain production.
We grow, harvest and process several varieties, all of which are available for purchase from this website.
Barley

Barley

Barley is one of the oldest domesticated crops having been first recorded in cultivation in prehistoric times.

The grain is covered by an outer seed coat that covers the bran layer, a large starchy endosperm, and an oil-containing germ. The hull and bran are removed by a process called pearling. Once pearled it can be further processed to flour, semolina or flakes.

Barley flakes are ideal ingredients for muesli – or even an excellent replacement for oat flakes – they are sweeter with a lower fat content. Try making 'granola' - lightly toast with a few raisins, a drizzle of honey, sunflower or pumpkin seeds and perhaps some nuts.

Flakes need to breath, please open bags directly after arrival.

All Barley products are BioGro certified
Dinkel / Spelt

Dinkel / Spelt

Dinkel (triticum spelta) has been grown on the farm for some 20 years, in fact Milmore Downs pioneered this crop and its demanding processing requirements. The old variety used ensures excellent quality. As an ancient grain it relates to wheat. It was previously widely grown in Europe but due to its low yield and difficult growing characteristics it has mostly been replaced by modern wheat.

Although Dinkel contains as much gluten as wheat its gluten (protein) molecule has a different composition, which is why many people who are allergic to wheat can eat Dinkel. If you have a wheat allergy though you may or may not be able to eat Dinkel. Just try a small amount first.

Dinkel flour is a wonderful easily digestible product having a pleasant nutty taste. It can be used for bread but also for the full range of baking (cakes and biscuits, scones, pizza bases...) in exactly the same way as ordinary wheat flour though the bread dough may take longer to rise.
Flakes need to breath, please open bags directly after you got them.

All spelt / Dinkel products are BioGro* certified.

Certified Organic Wheat Flours, Grain, Bran & Semolina

Certified Organic Wheat Flours, Grain, Bran & Semolina

Wheat is one of the oldest and most important cultivated food plants. Like all the seven grains, wheat is a member of the grass family. It prefers good fertility levels and sufficient moisture throughout the growing season.

Wheat is mostly used for baking bread and cakes. There are 3 main types of wheat:
  • So called biscuit wheat with a lower protein content ideal for cakes and pastries
  • Durum wheat, a very hard variety for making pasta
  • Hard or bread wheats with high protein levels and good baking characteristics.
Milmore Downs and partner farms grow hard wheat varieties with excellent baking strength.

All wheat products are BioGro certified

OUR DINKEL/Spelt is harvested!

All Dinkel/spelt products will be available very soon. Lots of customers will be pleased that it is available again. Again it was not easy with the new even less predictable weather patterns to grow a healthy grain. We had to wait so long before we could bring the seeds into the ground, it was June, which is extremely late. But the harvest looks good and some hot days made it possible to harvest our favourite grain!  

January 30, 2022
Our Certifications

Our Certifications

The farm and its products are BioGro (organic) certified. This means you are getting produce of the highest quality and nutrition and the land is being managed in a sustainable and sensible way.