The Organic Grains of Weatherbury Farm
Everything from putting the seed in the ground to putting
the flour in the bag is done at Weatherbury Farm.
The Organic Grains of Weatherbury Farm
From which tasty nutritional flours are stone-milled on the farm
Maxine Hard Red Winter Wheat
Used to make bread flour, Maxine is a fairly modern German variety that is well adapted to growing in the northeast. It has very good baking properties and is used by bakers for all types of leavened, unleavened & sourdough baked goods.
Bread, made with Weatherbury’s Bread Flour, ground from Maxine wheat, has been called “life-affirming” by eater. com.
Find out more about how the grain for your bread flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Maxine Grain Tracker.
Appalachian Hard White Winter Wheat
Developed by several USDA breeders in conjunction with North Carolina State. Appalachian wheat flourishes in our region. The eastern United States is not hospitable to growing hard wheats because the area’s humidity increases the incidence of disease in the fields.
Appalachian wheat produces a flour that is whiter in color and milder in flavor than Weatherbury’s Bread Flour.
Appalachian Wheat was harvested July 10 2020 and Weatherbury’s Appalachian Bread Flour is now available for pickup at our monthly on-farm flour pickups.
Check out more about how the grain for your Appalachian bread flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Appalachian Wheat Tracker.
Glenn Hard Red Spring Wheat
Historically, hard wheats (for bread) were not grown in this area. A hard spring wheat was definitely out of the question. This is the 2nd year we have tried growing hard spring wheat and our first success.
Glenn was developed by the NDSU hard red spring wheat (HRSW) breeding program and released by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in the spring of 2005.
With high protein and very good milling and baking characteristics, Glenn wheat produces an excellent airy bread with a dark color, pronounced naturally sweet wheat flavor and a soft open crumb. In sourdough, Glenn has an intense earthy flavor.
In several baking and sensory tests, Glenn showed itself to have the best overall baking score.
Check out more about how the grain for your Glenn bread flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Glenn Wheat Tracker .
Health Benefits of Wheat
Wheat is an excellent source of protein, dietary fibers, manganese and selenium. Wheat’s fiber boosts the digestive process and improves overall metabolism. The vitamin B content of wheat provides you with energy. Additionally, the complex carbohydrates in wheat keeps you feeling fuller longer and give you energy over a longer period.
Managanese, which wheat is rich in, acts as a co-factor for greater than 300 enzymes involved in the production of insulin and glucose secretion. Wheat’s betaine content prevents chronic inflammation, which is a key constituent in rheumatic pains and diseases. Additionally, its anti-inflammatory property reduces the risk of ailments like osteoporosis, heart diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, and type-2 diabetes.
Fredrick Soft White
Winter Wheat
Weatherbury’s pastry flour, which has a lovely silky texture, is ground from Fredrick Wheat. Area bakers are enthusiastic about using our pastry flour in pie crusts, cookies, cakes and our award winning cornbread!
Fredrick is a winter wheat developed under the auspices of the Ontario Cereal Crops Committee and does well in our area. Fredrick was developed in 1959, under the supervision of Fredrick Gfeller (hence the name) and licensed in 1971.
Learn more about how the grain for your pastry flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Frederick Wheat Tracker .
Oberkulmer Spelt
Spelt is one of the three ancient hulled wheats. Oberkulmer , a robust old Swiss landrace, is a true spelt with no modern wheat genetics. Weatherbury’s spelt flours have a lovely nutty flavor.
Spelt is one of the healthiest foods. Prized for its superior nutrition, spelt is higher than wheat in protein, minerals and vitamins. It is gentle for the whole digestive tract and strengthens your immune system and your nerves. With a gluten entirely different from wheat, spelt imparts a nutty flavor.
Sourdough spelt bread is thought by many to be the most tasty of breads. Spelt berries, with their chewy texture and nutty sweet flavor, can be used as a hot cereal, in a salad or in place of rice for a soup or pilaf.
Spelt is protected from the elements by a hull which doesn’t come free in harvest (unlike the hulls on wheat which do). The removal of the hull prior to milling requires special machinery. Weatherbury is lucky to have a spelt dehuller, built by Farmer Nigel.
Learn more about how the grain for your spelt flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Oberkulmer Spelt Tracker.
Milky Way Einkorn
Einkorn is the grain that started western civilization. And even today at taste testings, einkorn flat bread always rates best.
As long as 30,000 years ago, hunter gatherers may have harvested einkorn in the fertile crescent. Archaeological evidence suggests einkorn was first domesticated in southeast Turkey.
Cultivation of einkorn began to decline in favor of emmer around 2000 BC, but still was cultivated in some parts of northern Europe through the 20th century. The use of einkorn has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. It is known as farro piccolo.
Milky Way Einkorn, an accession from the USDA small grains collection (collected in 1970 in Vorarlberg, Austria), was grown out by 40 growers and bulked as the trials looked promising due to yield. Although we are still bulking our own einkorns (see below), we decided to plant Milky Way in 2020 and harvested it in July 2021.
Einkorn contains only 14 chromosomes; modern wheat contains 42. Einkorn doesn’t have the D chromosome, which may be connected with wheat intolerance. It is easier to digest and contains more protein and higher levels of fat, phosphorus, pyridoxine, potassium and beta-carotene than modern wheat.
Nigel is working on building a screen to dehull the einkorn (the screen is not a size that is readily available, so it will have to be specially constructed.) The einkorn will be then cleaned, dehulled and milled. Soon, you can learn more about how the grain for your einkorn flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Oberkulmer Einkorn Tracker.
Danko Rye
Danko rye, developed at the Polish Plant Breeding Institute, Poznan, Poland, is a true milling-type rye. Many of the ryes grown in the Northeast are cover-crop varieties, with small seeds and a high bran-to-starch ratio. This makes them a poor choice for baking, malting, and distilling. Danko, however, has large, plump, berries with an interesting flavor balance between spicy and bready. It is a favorite among beer makers and distillers; bakers, of course, love it to make authentic European-style rye breads. Danko rye also does well in our area.
Rye is the traditional bread for people from Germany east to Russia and north to Scandinavia. This area is known as the rye belt because it is where most of the world’s rye is grown and consumed.
People have undervalued the benefits of rye for a long time, but today many people are starting to use it for its numerous health benefits. It can help you lose weight, boost your metabolism, control your glucose levels (good for fighting diabetes), and has a heart-healthy fiber which lowers cholesterol levels.
Since the Whiskey Rebellion, Washington County has also been known for its rye (specifically rye whiskey). Not to worry, Weatherbury also mills rye into flour.
Check out more about how the grain for your rye flour was grown with Weatherbury’s Danko Rye Tracker.
Wapsie Valley Corn
Wapsie Valley Corn is an open-pollinated heirloom dent corn which dates back to the 1850s. It is two-color corn, producing ears of either all coppery red or all dark yellow kernels.
Weatherbury’s open pollinated Wapsie Valley corn packs both a visual and a flavor punch. Cornbread made with Weatherbury’s cornmeal and sifted pastry flour has won three first place ribbons and two second places at the county fair during the past six years.
Corn is a spring planted crop. Because Weatherbury Farm is organic, we rotary hoe and cultivate the corn to lessen the impact of weeds.
Corn is a rich source of vitamins A,B,E and minerals (phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron and copper). With a high fiber content, it plays a significant role in preventing digestive ailments. It is rich in phytochemicals which provides protection against a number of chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Learn more about how the grain for your cornmeal and polenta was grown with Weatherbury’s Wapsie Valley Corn Grain Tracker.
Gehl Hull-less Oats
Oats have been harvested.
Expected for Sept 14 pickup
Gehl is the first bald-seeded hulless oat; the hull threshes free from the oat groat which means it can be rolled “live” rather than being steamed prior to rolling.
Customers tell us Weatherbury’s rolled oats are the best they’ve ever tasted.
After we harvest our oats, they are triple-cleaned and rolled, with none of the processing used in producing commercial rolled oats. Thus, Weatherbury Rolled Oats have their natural vitality, nutrients and flavor.
Oats are incredibly nutritious. They are a good source of carbs and fiber and are loaded with important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Oats contain a beta-glucan, a fiber found to be very effective in lowering cholesterol. Oats also have avenanthramides, an antioxidant unique to oats, which may help protect blood vessels from the damaging effects of LDL cholesterol and keep blood pressure low.
Find out more about how the oats for your rolled oats were grown with Weatherbury’s Gehl Hull-less Oats Tracker .
Westsylvanian Common Buckwheat
Hopefully available in 2022 if deer don’t eat it before we can harvest it.
Buckwheat is a pseudo-cereal crop (it closest relative is rhubarb) that produces short, wide-spreading plants bearing bright green, heart-shaped leaves and lovely white flowers.
Since circa 4000 B.C. in the Balkan region of Europe, Buckwheat has been providing essential nutrients, vitamins, energy, and fiber to humanity. Buckwheat arrived in the U.S. with the European colonists. and, since that time, can be found growing in just about every corner of the globe.
Buckwheat provides a high quality protein with all eight essential amino acids and is one of the best sources of protein in the plant kingdom. Despite its name, buckwheat actually doesn’t contain any wheat or the protein gluten. It is milled, however, on the same mill as wheat at Weatherbury so traces of wheat may remain, despite purging of the mill between flour types. Buckwheat contains Rutin, a phytonutrient, which is an important antioxidant for heart health supports liver, brain and digestive health.
While buckwheat can be planted in the spring, at Weatherbury Farm it is planted after wheat to provide two crops in one year (an excellent soil utilization strategy). Buckwheat hulls make excellent garden mulch.
Find out more about how the grain for your buckwheat flour (milled before March 2021) was grown with Weatherbury’s Buckwheat Tracker. Unfortunately, in October 2021 the deer ate the entire 4 acre field of buckwheat we had planted, even though it was not mature. We hope to have buckwheat flour again in 2022, if the deer do not eat the buckwheat.
Zorro Black Turtle Beans
A splendid dark purple- black bean, grown throughout Latin America and at Weatherbury Farm.
With their rich full flavor, black turtle beans are suited for everything from baked beans to soups to Latin cuisine. After harvesting, our beans are cleaned in three or four separate operations.
For best results, beans should be soaked overnight before cooking to achieve optimum texture and flavor.
Black beans are a nutritional powerhouse, loaded with protein, fiber, molybdenum, copper and zinc. They have more antioxidant benefits, gram for gram than other beans.
Beans were one of the first foods that were gathered and prepared by humans; some researchers think that black beans may have been the first legume to be domesticated for food. Black beans were first consumed in Mexico and South America about 7,000 years ago.
Learn more about how the beans grown with Weatherbury’s Zorro Black Bean tracker.
Merlot Small Red Beans
Merlot Small Red Beans are a new growing adventure for Weatherbury Farm for 2020. The beans are said to have a slightly sweet, somewhat nutty flavor. Not a commonly eaten bean in the U.S. (yet!) – they are the go-to bean for Nicaraguans (red beans and rice, anyone?).
With their rich sweet nutty flavor, merlot red beans are suited for everything from chili to Latin cuisine.
For best results, beans should be soaked overnight before cooking to achieve optimum texture and flavor.
Red beans are a good source of phosphorus, potassium and iron. They’re also an excellent source of dietary fiber and a low-fat source of protein. Red beans also contain phytonutrients. Both protein and fiber can help you stay fuller longer as well as decreasing your risk of many chronic diseases.
Learn more about how the Merlot Small Red Beans grown with Weatherbury’s Merlot Small Red Bean tracker.
Exclusively Weatherbury Grains
In Development
Weatherbury Farm doesn’t wait for grains to become trendy and seed to become available. We are constantly collecting small samples of different grains and growing them out to find varieties that are compatible with our region. For example, while people are starting to talk about einkorn, Weatherbury Farm has been growing einkorn on a plot scale since 2010 (Alpine Einkorn) and 2012 (Saxon Einkorn).
We have also been growing Obsidian Emmer on a plot scale since 2012.
We planted small fields of Alpine Einkorn, Saxon Einkorn and Obsidian Emmer in 2018. However, the weather was not kind to our efforts and we were unable to harvest the crop. We are working on bulking up our seeds of the three varieties, please read more below.
Alpine Winter Einkorn
Einkorn is a “founder crop,” — one of the eight plants domesticated by Pre-Pottery Neolithic farming communities.
Einkorn is an important part of history as it required a sedentary lifestyle to grow and, thus marks the time when humans traded in hunting and gathering for permanent settlements.
As long as 30,000 years ago, hunter gatherers may have harvested einkorn in the fertile crescent. Archaeological evidence suggest einkorn was first domesticated in southeast Turkey. The Weatherbury Farm folks have seen it growing wild in Israel and Jordan.
Cultivation of einkorn began to decline in favor of emmer around 2000BC, but still was cultivated in some parts of northern Europe through the 20th century. The use of einkorn has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. It is known as farro piccolo.
In the pictures above, you can see Weatherbury’s Alpine Einkorn and an Alpine Einkorn plot from several years ago. Weatherbury is also bulking another variety of einkorn, which we call Saxon Einkorn.
We purchased both the Alpine Einkorn (2009) and Saxon Einkorn (2011) in Germany. We started bulking the seed, by planting increasingly larger test plots. By 2018 we had a 1/3 of an acre planted of each variety. Unfortunately 2018 was a very wet year and we lost both crops. In the fall of 2022, we plan to once again plant large plots of each variety to start bulking our seed of both types of einkorn back up again.
Should everything go well, we will plant about a 1/3 of an acre of both varieties of Einkorn in 2022 for harvest in 2023. Then, if we do not have any problems, we will plant fields of both varieties of emmer in the fall of 2023 for harvest in 2024. So, if everything goes as planned, we will have Alpine Einkorn and Saxon Einkorn flour available in 2024.
The good news for einkorn lovers is that we planted a field in 2020 of 1.2 acres of Milky Way Einkorn which we harvested in 2021. We purchased the certified organic seed from an Amish friend in Ohio who has had success with this variety of Einkorn.
Nigel is working on building a screen to dehull the einkorn (the screen is not a size that is readily available, so it will have to be specially constructed.) The einkorn will be then cleaned, dehulled and milled. We will have einkorn flour available later in 2021.
Obsidian Black Winter Emmer
Weatherbury Farm is currently bulking Obsidian Emmer, a type of black winter emmer which is found in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Like spelt and einkorn, emmer is one of the founder crops, being one of the first cereals to be domesticated. Emmer was a staple of the ancient Egyptians.
The Obsidian black winter emmer is a variety that we got 12 seeds of at Agritechnica in Germany in 2011. We started bulking the seed in 2012, by planting increasingly larger test plots. By 2018 we had a 1/3 of an acre planted. That was a unfortunately a very wet year and we lost the whole crop.
In the fall of 2020, we planted a large plot to start bulking our seed back up again. On October 14, 2021 we planted .248ha/.613ac if the Obisdian Black Winter Emmer. If we encounter no problems, we will have emmer flour available in 2022.
Along with einkorn, emmer was one of the first domesticated wheats in the fertile crescent. Like einkorn and spelt, emmer is a hulled wheat. It is popular in Italy and gaining popularity elsewhere as faro medio.
In the pictures above, you can see Weatherbury’s Obsidian Emmer, an emmer plot from circa 2014 and the 10.14.21 planting.