We are the little family that plants the wheat seed that grows to organic grain that mills the organic flour that is your organic bread.
Our enchanting farm & its thousands of acres, set on the famous Gwydir floodplains west of Moree in upper western New South Wales, has been blessed by millions of years of floods soaking over it, from the rich fertile hills of the New England. Our land is rich in silt and organic matter, making our soil darker, richer and more nutritious. Sounds delicious already doesn't it?
Into our nourishing soil we plant the wheat seeds, using strict certified organic methods. Our farming land was a virgin farm when we first started the certification process, so not only is it organic, it always has been….ensuring the purest wheat possible anywhere in the world.
Our organic management plan also means we protect and enhance biodiversity on our farm and our environment around us, using the best environmental practice of organic farming activities and protection of riparian and vegetated areas. We are also totally 'off grid' at the farm house, relying on our own water, sewage and solar electricity.
A bit about us... Bryce & Nat Woods. We both grew up on our family farms, as generations of our families have before us, and feel instinctively, a real sensitivity for the land and its needs. It's in our blood, like it is in our kids' blood. When we started farming ourselves though, we saw a new way of doing things on the land and believe in the good bits that come with growing our crops organically. We use our understanding of ecology and soil science to know our soil and judge when to use crop rotations to ensure fertility as well as keeping the weeds & pest insects at bay. We love the scientific aspect of organic farming & the opportunity it gives us to explore alternative natural remedies to common farming problems.
Drop in for a metaphorical 'cup of tea' sometime & we'll share
more with you about us and our latest crops & how they are growing...
All through the growing season we watch and take notes and pictures of our little wheat shoots on their journey. We take notes on where weeds are appearing, and where the crop looks healthiest. We use this information to make decisions on how to best help our soil build the energy it needs to maintain its wellbeing. All of this is recorded and inspected by Australian Certified Organic, because, like us, they want to make sure the land is being looked after. They keep a good eye on us, so we can keep a good eye on getting you the certified organic product you deserve.
Did you know?
Certified organic farming systems prohibit the use of artificial chemicals, pesticides, fertilisers and anything genetically modified (GM). That is our certifiers job, to make sure we are adhering to those standards and more. They do a great job...
Have a look at their website...
I think most people would like to limit their intake of synthetic chemical nasties, the benefits of doing so to human health are proven time and again. So it is important to know where your food comes from and how it has been grown. Most foods you buy aren't traceable back to the paddock they came from. So, if that is the case, how do you know who has grown them? How they have been grown? How do you know the farmers are looking after the soil, so your foods have the right nutritional value? How do you know what chemicals they have soaked your food plants in? There are some scary statistics out there, but I'm not here to scare you. I just want to tell you how we do things, on our farm and in our mill.
Summers west of Moree are hot, very very hot. We are right on the edge of where the good floodplain soil and rain combine with the right amount of heat to make world famous high protein, great grain. Quality grain is nutritious grain. Each year, the October sun beats down and hardens the grain in our wheat heads. Its harvest time, and as we harvest we pay attention to testing the quality of our grain as it is gathered into our big header. As we are harvesting, we make notes on the grain quality as an indication of how the soils are feeling, which soils created great grain, and which soils need more care. This way we can continue to improve our soil health and the nutritional benefits it passes on to you. If you are what you eat, your food is also what it eats, healthy soil equals healthy you. After it is harvested, the grain is carried straight from our paddock directly to our storage silos on the farm. And there it waits in its humidity controlled home, waiting to be taken to be milled.
Whilst we have the best history of providing organic wheat for milling…. Mother Nature will still show her hand. On these occasions, when severe dry leaves us with little crop to harvest, we will need to draw on our friends grain to help us continue providing you with great flour. These friends are all family owned and run, committed certified organic farmers, just like us.
Long long ago, before the first world war, our flour mill began its life in the then thriving milling town of Inverell. But sadly the old mill had become unused and neglected with the passage of time. Then in 2012, we came & set about building our brand new flour mill within its beautiful old walls. Our new 3 storey roller mill has undergone the mill certifying process and is now fully certified organic. Unlike other mills, we only mill organic product. Our new mill was built by Bryce and a team of locals and then it was honed to perfection by one of the most renowned and experienced millers within the country, John McCorquodale, formerly of McCorquodale Mills.
Our milling process is modern, keeping heat at a minimum to retain the goodness of the flour. First the grain is cleaned of imperfections, then rolled and sifted 4 times before it is divided into the quality products. The magic is created there and then. Out pours our beautiful fresh flour. We then bag it up, fresh off the mill and cold store it, to keep the flour as pure as it can be.
I wish you could come by sometime and smell our flour, fresh from the mills, there's nothing like breathing it in. It's a live biological product, a living thing made into food before your very eyes! We never stop finding it amazing. At the moment we create:
But jump on our Facebook page & see how our new Spelt & Faba crop is growing... We'll have them available as flour & livestock feed soon...
Since they are our products from the plant seed to the time it leaves our mill in bags, we are justifiably proud of them, it's like our babies leaving home, all wrapped up in their minimal packaging ready to go to your local artisan baker to work their magic.
So please, next time you are buying your favourite breads and bakery treats from your local organic bakery, ask them if they use Woods Organic Flour? If they do, say we said hello from the Farm. If they don't, ask them why the hell not! See you soon. Nat & Bryce.
