The Fresh Loaf

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Heritage grain CSA in Southern New England/NY - wheat, spelt, rye

TopBun's picture
TopBun

Heritage grain CSA in Southern New England/NY - wheat, spelt, rye

Since home millers often post here asking where to buy grains, I want to share my positive experience buying a grain share this winter from the Massachusetts-based Pioneer Valley Heritage Grains CSA (https://localgrain.org). The grains are grown on farms in Massachusetts and Maine and most is certified organic. The CSA has winter pickups near Boston, Western Massachusetts, Westchester New York and Simsbury Connecticut.

For breadmaking I purchased Redeemer and Red Lammas wheat to mill at home; both are heritage varieties of hard red winter wheat and I found them to have very good breadmaking qualities and wonderful flavor (I also got smaller quantifies of Einkorn, Emmer and Spelt which have been great for pancakes, waffles, soda bread, or cooked grain). The freshness and quality of all the grains was top rate. The price is not as low as buying from bulk bins but I felt it was reasonable for organic, regionally grown heritage varieties. You buy the share, and then around Christmas they send a pesronalized link to an online ordering system to pick out exactly how much of each grain you want, about a month or so in advance of the winter pickup. Next year I plan to buy a bunch of rye for dense, authentic Vollkornbrot, my latest obsession!  

I have no ties of any kind to the business, I'm just a satisfied customer and I thought others here in the region might be interested.

Eric

 

 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I wish I lived closer! What a great idea!