Flour

We know there are no quick fixes, no simple solutions, no one-size-fits all answers to the complex, existential challenges facing us. But agroforestry, a system of farming that combines agriculture with trees, is as close to a perfect answer as we've seen. And now you can see too!

There is no better gift than pulses, grains and seeds (right?!), so we’ve put together some bundles and boxes of products from across our range.

We only sell stoneground whole grain flours, these are made by milling the whole cereal seed and not sifting the flour. We do this because we know that wholegrain flours taste better and are better for us. But we've started selling bran and semolina, the by-products of white flour production - Josiah explains why.

We’ve started selling bread from the Penny Bun Bakehouse. Just one ‘Hodmedod’ loaf for now, you can find it here, but if it works maybe more in time. Here's why:

It goes without saying that we #Loveulses, but we have a particular soft spot for peas. Not only versatile, delicious and well adapted to our climate, but beautiful in the field and after harvest. We're certain these fabulous new pink Flamingo Peas will win many more fans for peas.

If you haven't caught up with them yet you really mustn't miss the new Cereal podcast series from Farmerama Radio and Wendell Steavenson's Guardian long read Flour Power. Pus more food for thought we've digested recently.

A little over 10 years ago Nick, William and I began working with Transition City Norwich on the Resilient Food Project, a community initiative that asked whether the city could feed itself in a low impact, low input way from the fields around its walls and that was the catalyst for Hodmedod. One of the many things we needed to get to grips with was grain, flour and bread (we're still on that journey). Here Charlotte Du Cann, writing in 2009, records one of our early explorations into fields and bakeries.

Learn to bake with fresh-milled grains such as our YQ wheat. Expert home-baker Sue Hudson, who runs Bread Workshops in East Anglia, has begun offering courses where you can mill our grains with a Mockmill and then bake with them. As Sue explains, there's nothing quite like the flavour of a loaf made with fresh-milled flour.

With the summer festival season in full swing we're getting out and about with our British-grown pulses, grains and seeds. They're superb ingredients not just for comforting winter fare but excellent in lighter summer dishes too.

As usual this year's weather is proving utterly different from last year, when the Beast From The East severely delayed planting of spring crops, resulting in reduced yields and some quality. 

It's wonderful to see Professor Martin Wolfe's pioneering work on agroforestry reported in the The Guardian & reaching a wider audience. Martin is a long-time friend and mentor to Hodmedod, and grows naked barley, lentils, wheat and more for us. His whole farm system approach and drive for diversity at every level are an inspiration to us

Hodmedod won two awards at the 2017 Good Choice! Quality Food Awards. Our Yellow Pea Flour and Roasted Green Peas with Horseradish were both category winners, while our Lightly Salted Roasted Fava Beans were highly commended.