the mill

An hour from my home, nestled in between miles of farmland, stands a mill.  Lindley Mill. Started in 1755, the owner likes to brag that the mill is "older than the United States of America". The mill is a registered historic place with markers noting both the age of the mill and the date of a fierce battle fought here at the end of the Revolutionary War.

This mill is not only a historic destination, it is a working organic grain mill, milling only organic flours since 1976.  I was fortunate enough to learn of it's existence a few years ago, and I have only purchased flour directly from the mill ever since. I was close to needing more flour and a friend wanted an introduction to the mill, so we embarked on an adventure yesterday with her little ones in tow.

My usual buy of 25 lbs of organic all-purpose and 25 lbs of organic whole spelt was adjusted yesterday as the spelt truck had some problems and was running a few days late.  I asked for a list of the flours again and realized that they also sell organic sprouted grains, but only by the 50 lb sack.  Well, I couldn't pass up a $37 bag of 50 lbs organic sprouted wheat, and I'm already eagerly awaiting my next trip where I hope to get organic sprouted spelt.  The only problem: lack of freezer space.  After quite a bit of rearranging of the summer harvest of zucchini, green beans, butternut squash and apples that formerly resided on this shelf, I managed to fit the all purpose flour here as well so that the sprouted wheat could take up the entire bottom shelf.

And the small amount of all purpose left in the freezer from the last trip, well, there clearly wasn't room for it any longer.  So I made a loaf of rosemary-olive oil bread and took it to Finn's teachers this morning.  I've actually become quite a fan of this crusty bread recipe.  Very easy and if you substitute 1/4 cup of buttermilk for some of the water, you can make it into a soaked grain bread as well.