Buckwheat Flour

Is tomorrow the first time in Edmonton's history that locally produced Buckwheat Flour will be offered for sale? Was it offered decades ago in a time when it would have been common? We've grown buckwheat for a few years now and this is the first time we've milled it into flour...tomorrow it will be for sale at our booths at Old Strathcona Farmers Market and City Market on 104th. 

It mills wonderfully but we do have to sift it to remove the hulls. This adds a fair amount more work to the process, but it's worth it. What an intense flavour! We made a Rhubarb Pie with Buckwheat crust and it was awesome. 

The two G's in a field of Buckwheat

There have been a few people asking for Buckwheat Flour at the Old Strathcona Farmers Market lately so now they can go home with a bag of their own. It is, of course, organic. 

Buckwheat was once very popular in North America and has been grown since colonial days. It was a valued cash crop for early new world farmers because it was the only flour that could be seeded and harvested within the 90 limit of most notes of the time. You could borrow the money for seed and pay it back with the harvest...the only crop capable of that kind of quick performance. 

Additionally, Buckwheat was a household item used in all kinds of baking projects. Buckwheat is ground as a flour and used for noodles, pancakes and breads. It should be noted that Buckwheat is a seed or nut as opposed to a grain...it contains no gluten.

Hopefully we will see you tomorrow at market. Brittany will be at Old Strathcona and I will be at City! Should be a great day.