Castle Valley Mill and The rediscovery of local

Castle Valley Mill and The rediscovery of local stone ground grains

Mills of Bucks County • 1642 First mill in Blue Bell • Mills used for textiles, oil, plaster, snuff, pig iron, paper, etc. • Grain and Lumber biggest Bucks County Industries • Hundreds of mills powering industry • We have rich farmland, water power, Delaware River to get product to Philadelphia and ports to the world

The Classic Country (Custom) Grist Mill • One set of stones • Water or Wind power • Very Labor intensive – Receive and clean grain – Feeding the stones – Sifting flour – Packaging product

Mill Stone Basics For over 5000 years the technology is basically grain goes in the middle and is ground between the stones with one fixed and one rotating. Flour is thrown to the outside where a hoop contains it and it eventually drops through a chute below to a packing bin.

Local Boy Makes Good • Oliver Evans - Inventor 1755 – 1819 – Born DE – Lived in Philadelphia – Inventor • Carding Machine • Steam Engines • Automatic Flour Mill 1782 • Third US patent awarded in 1790

Roller Mills Invented ~ 1872 Gradual reduction of grain particles Extensive Bolting to sift only the starch Separation of grain components – germ and bran removed Makes white flour nothing to spoil, but no taste or nutrition

Industrial Revolution • • • Steam, Electricity, Internal Combustion Location, Location Bigger, Faster, Cheaper Small mills shut down due to economics Milling centers move to Midwest Water mills gradually fall into disrepair

Industrialization of Flour • • Faster Cheaper Larger Volumes Homogonous Extended Shelf Life “Pure White” But poor nutrition Basically tasteless

Whole Wheat vs Processed Per 100 g Extraction Protein Fat Carbohydrate Calcium Iron Vitamin A Vitamin B 1 Calories Stone Ground 81% 11. 2% 67% 50 4 200 150 370 Roller Mill 72% 10. 7% 80% 22 1 0 22 370

Why we are better • • • Our grains are locally sourced All products are Non-GMO Freshly milled to order Stone ground Treat like produce, not salt Flavor, nutrition, texture, buzz

Current Products • • Hard Wheat -Whole & Bolted Soft Wheat -Whole & Bolted Spelt– Flour & Berries Emmer– Flour & Berries Rye – Flour & Berries Yellow Corn – Grits & Cornmeal Red Corn – Grits & Cornmeal

1905 What have we done? Castle Valley Mill about 1905 – the end of stone milling era

1948 Castle Valley Mill about 1947 when purchased and saved by Henry Fischer.

Castle Valley Mill Today Fully restored and operational cleaning and milling

Preserving and restoring machines

Preserving and restoring machines

Operating Equipment • • • Phillips 12” 1873 Nordyke Marmon Harrison Mill 12” 1880 2 x Meadows 20” Mills 30” Under runner Mill Scalping Reel/Bolter Single Sieve Scalper 1910 Carter Disc Separator Cracked Corn Separator and Grader Receiving Separator Revolving Disc Aspirator Wheat Scourer Etc.

The Grain Train • Farmer • Miller • Baker-Chef • Distiller • Consumer Rebuilding the local grain economy requires all the cars to be moving at the same time. Growing-Production-Distrubution. Consumption.

Local Grain Challenges Some days it seems like we are making very slow progress • Scale • Storage • Availability • Price • Market Acceptance • Bugs - Vomitoxin

We are having some great success stories