Mattie and Archie Jennings (Ma and Pa) started etching out a farm life in Maple Grove Township, Michigan back in 1979. Diversifying farm commodities is one way to provide an insurance policy on boom and bust markets, and various small grains have long been a part of the crop rotation on Jennings Family Farm. After becoming early adopters of the USDA Organic Certification program in 2003, Ma and Pa took a next step beyond growing and harvesting, to milling over 10 different organic grain varietals, including organic spelt, hard red spring wheat, soft red winter wheat, buckwheat, oats, black beans, and several heritage corns to go along with the yellow corn and soy beans on a 90 year old stone burr mill imported from West Virginia. My dad likes to think it was used to make corn mash for moonshine during the Prohibition Era!
Bringing the Good Stuff to Markets
By 2005, my parents started to build momentum in the southern Michigan Farmer’s Market circuit as a side gig providing freshly milled grains to eaters across the state from Holland, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Lansing, to as far east as Ann Arbor. Each week my parents would mill the flour for markets and my mom would mix and bake up samples the night before so tasters could try out the goods. Her spelt grape nuts cereal, cherry graham bread, and southwestern cornbread with black, red, blue, and white cornmeal were legendary. If you google hard enough, you can find foodie blog posts dating back to 2007 before foodie blog posts were a thing (well at least to our limited knowledge). Foodies would closely examine the delicious grains and recipes ma and pa would graciously provide.
Most all would agree that the freshly ground grains awakened a flavor and sensation that eaters didn’t realize they were missing.
Looking back on these milling and market days, brings many smiles to Ma and Pa. These markets weren’t just about selling a great product, they were truly about sharing a passion with others. As a product from the farm, these organic whole grains provide a healthy food source and retain the dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are often stripped from the processed grains you often see on the grocery store shelf. Also, thanks to the natural antioxidants and disease-fighting compounds that are found in these organic whole grains, they have been linked to lower risks related to heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity (www.wholegrainscouncil.org). These organic whole grains represent a wonderful source of food from the farm. However, as time marched on, around 2014 cattle were introduced to the farm’s landscape and soon required a lot of attention.
‘Change is the Only Constant’
Introducing cattle to the landscape was an integral step in the farm’s evolution. With Mattie and Archie’s daughter, Janette, moving back home, she was able to provide support for this endeavor. Undoubtedly, the cattle brought many new lives to care for, the freshly milled grains and farmer’s markets slowed down for Ma and Pa (aside from some home milling to provide Archman enough buckwheat for his buckwheat pancakes each morning). Fast forward to November 2018, many of you following the farm’s story were excited to see it come online with the Firefly Fields website that includes an online shop, a kitchen, and stories connecting you directly to the our family’s farm – just in time for the farm’s 40th anniversary in 2019.
And, here we are in 2020 – and has the disruption of the food system ever been a doozy! Since 2018, Ben and I have been selling and learning to grow organic whole grains from the farm (e.g. wheat berries, black beans, and soybeans). Our plan was to phase in the freshly milled flours in 2020 – with food hoarding on the rise it was good timing! About a month ago, we relaunched the soft red whole wheat flour at local farmer’s markets to great appeal. This weekend we will mill our first batch (in a long time) of spelt and cornmeal to sell both online and at farmer’s markets to come. Currently, we have about 5 acres of buckwheat ripening in our field that we also plan to harvest and mill later this fall. Fingers-crossed friends, aside from a catastrophe, the buckwheat flour will return!
Freshly Milled Grains to be Highlighted
So as LL COOL J says ‘ Don’t call it a comeback. I’ve been here for years…’ The grains have been around for awhile now, we just get to be the first to digitally market them as people rediscover bread making and sour dough! Stay tuned over the next weeks as we focus on the farm’s organic grains. While we all transition into the fall and cooler nights, we plan to feature old stories and recipes about Ma and Pa’s grains as well as new stories and new recipes from our community. The contributions and enthusiasm from people all over have truly been inspiring, and we can’t wait to share the food, flavor, and stories with you all! The grains are coming!
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