Baguettes, buns and croissants are a few of the things baked in the hand-built wood fire oven that sits deep within Kispiox Valley, located between Smithers and Terrace. Here, the coastal air merges with lush forests and the scent of freshly baked bread (could anything smell better?).
A cycling trip to Haida Gwaii led Jonathan Knight to the area after years spent on various farms dreaming of finding his own land. After selling his company, True Grain Bread, in Cowichan Bay, he purchased the northern farm in 2009. Together with his partner, Jolene Swain, they run the certified organic WoodGrain Farm and produce vegetables, seeds, lamb, garlic salts and flour.
The Red Seal-trained baker described their flour production as operating on more of a 含羞草研究社渉obbyist scale,含羞草研究社� although they still sell their flour at the local farmers含羞草研究社� market and to retailers.
Production depends on what works in the marginal climate with short seasons. Knight has seen success with rye and winter wheat含羞草研究社攁lthough one winter, it didn含羞草研究社檛 get cold enough, and a field of winter wheat moulded in the snow. Another year, the grizzly bears were well fed after they got to his spring wheat, red fife.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 best not to put too many eggs in the grain basket here,含羞草研究社� he said while explaining that farmers must be resilient and diverse in remote locations.
含羞草研究社淵ou can含羞草研究社檛 really sell a lot of just a few things. You need to have a great variety of many different things to sell. It含羞草研究社檚 not like you have a lot more customers come to the market that are just going to each grab a bag of carrots. You have relatively few customers compared to larger centers. So you want to be able to offer more to them.含羞草研究社�
As such, being a jack of all trades is important, he said; however, HARVEST didn含羞草研究社檛 get the impression that he含羞草研究社檚 a master of none.
Along with the wood fire oven, Knight successfully built the farm含羞草研究社檚 stone ground flour mill. The 12含羞草研究社� quarried granite stone was ordered from Meadows Mills in North Carolina and is beautifully encased in Kispiox birch.
After harvesting his fields, the stone mill sheers the grain, keeping the different parts of the grain together含羞草研究社攖he bran, germ and endosperm.
This differs from what many commercial mills often use含羞草研究社攔ollers含羞草研究社攖hat separate the bran and germ from the grain. The bran can be added back afterward, but the germ, the most nutritious part of the grain, is not always added back because it shortens the flour含羞草研究社檚 shelf life.
While Health Canada requires the nutrients lost during commercial processing to be added to the flour, Knight says that, unless stone ground, it含羞草研究社檚 technically not 100 per cent whole wheat flour; it含羞草研究社檚 refined flour with bran re-added.
For Knight, he prefers the traditional method. Keeping the grain intact also helps maintain the nutrition and flavour.
含羞草研究社淎ll you should need to make bread is flour, water and a bit of salt to sort of enhance the flavours.含羞草研究社�
His collection of up to 40 heirloom seed varieties allows him to experiment and see what does best: the older varieties that contain genetic diversity in them.
含羞草研究社淲hen you含羞草研究社檙e growing [wheat] and saving the seeds and growing [wheat] and saving the seeds, you含羞草研究社檙e saving the best ones, the best individuals in that population. So they含羞草研究社檙e gradually changing and adapting to your climate 含羞草研究社� you know, the somewhat cool, somewhat short season of the northwest B.C. climate.含羞草研究社�
While WoodGrain Farm sells its flour, they reserve the bread for them.
含羞草研究社淲e fire [the oven] up a couple of times a month and we bake all of our bread,含羞草研究社� including buns, croissants and baguettes. Next, the products are stored in the freezer for the couple to consume when ready.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 just like having fresh, wood-fired bread every time we pull it from the freezer,含羞草研究社� said Knight, who also enjoys hosting pizza parties for friends.
To learn more about WoodGrain Farm, visit their website at woodgrain.ca.
kim.kimberlin@blackpress.ca
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