The Whole Grain Connection
Welcome to the Whole Grain Connection. We are a non-profit organization based in California, aiming to enhance the desirability and availability of whole grain breads and other whole grain products from organically and sustainably grown grains and thereby connecting farmers and bakers.   We hope you will visit our website often for our latest website publications and activities.    Contact information: Attn: Monica Spiller Whole Grain Connection 500 West Middlefield Road #2 Mountain View California 94043   e-mail: barmbaker@aol.com   Telephone: 650 938 2865   www.sustainablegrains.org www.wholegrainconnection.org	What is whole grain? Whole grain wheat is the same as wheat seed. If it is a genuine unbroken wheat seed you can soak it and sprout it. The end of the seed that produces the sprout is the germ. The thin, colored seed skin is the bran, which is tasty, edible and a necessary part of food; it is fiber and it carries other foods all the way through the digestive system without being itself digested. The middle endosperm of the wheat seed or grain is filled with starch and protein which is the store of food for the new wheat sprout. The growing plant can only use this food store if the vitamins, minerals and other plant nutrients are provided by the bran and germ. Similarly, people can only use the starch and protein from wheat properly if they also eat the germ and bran at the same time, since these supply the needed nutrient helpers for proper digestion and use for growth and energy. Whole grain Sonora wheat photo New in May 2012 Whole Grain Connection has been marketing organic whole grain products for farmers, using a "tm" designation for our "certification mark". Recently we have added a "Grown & made in California" logo to this certification mark. A few products are now being sold with this new mark, which you'll recognize by the California poppy art and the font. The beautiful California poppy artwork is by Margo Bors, an artist from San Francisco. You'll notice that we now give the farm, or farmer name, on the front label. Since Fritz Durst is the farmer at Tule Farms you'll realize that it is only the label that has changed. The products are as they are described on the label and we have not changed any sources or formulations. We can approve products and prepare labels for other farmers selling their organic whole grains. Please contact us for further information. Eventually we'll have the logo on this website for your consideration. We've been in the news.  Mountain View Voice. January 27, 2012 San Francisco Chronicle. January 3, 2012
	For the Farmers: Knowledge of the fungal diseases that attack grains leads to good organic prevention practices. Click on the link below to read about Preventing Fungal Disease on Wheat, written by Monica Spiller in 2009. This was an exercise in understanding the problems from the viewpoint of the organic farmer. As with all our work at the Whole Grain Connection, this is an ongoing project, always waiting to be updated or corrected. The information was gleaned from many on-line sources and in particular from Integrated Pest Management for Small Grains, Publication 3333 of the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Preventing Fungal Disease on Wheat For the Bakers New recipe using stone ground whole wheat flour from Sonora or Ethiopian Emmer wheat Recipe: Easy Street bread & barm refreshment Sunnyvale Farmers' Market We are sorry to be absent from the Sunnyvale Farmers Market beginning November 26, 2011 until some time in January 2012. Sarah has moved on to a full time job. She was cheery and a great help and we shall miss her, but wish her success.  We have also had some challenges in bringing a wider range of products to the market. We hope to have all this resolved by January and look forward to serving you again, with all Californian organic whole grain products from Farmer Fritz Durst. Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale CA, Saturdays 9am - 1pm Selling all organic whole grains, stone ground whole wheat flour, fresh barm, and whole wheat pasta from Fritz Durst Farm, Capay, CA Tips Sonora wheat & emmer wheat (Ethiopian Blue Tinge) make wonderful whole wheat pasta! Whole wheat breadmaking with Sonora and Ethiopian Blue Tinge Emmer wheat: After adding all final dough ingredients to mixing bowl, mix only to combine. Then WAIT an hour or more before mixing or kneading to develop the dough. In this way the whole grain flour has time to fully absorb moisture; the starch especially becomes favorably pliable. Surprisingly both varieties of wheat bread can be made with as little as 70% total hydration (65% only, before addition of barm). Sonora wheat bread does well with minimal mixing at time of barm addition, immediate formation of final bread shape, and a single rise before baking. This makes breadmaking easy and the end result has mild and pleasing complexity of flavor. Recent Recipes Recipe: Sprouted wheat bread - unleavened Recipe: Whole wheat tortillas or chapattis Recipe: Whole wheat fettuccine or noodles   Products & Detail   Products & details