Permaculture in New Zealand

I recently received my manual grain flaker
from www.grainmills.co.nz
- Excellent investment. My mill should arrive in the next few months

• I've been flaking everything plausible
  to see what is produced (resources) and living off my own fresh flaked
  oats or spelt berry porridge for the last week (berries purchased from the
  Green Grocer)

• I'm keeping a note of the volume I
  buy/use to give me some idea of how much grain I use. This will allow me
  to work out how much grain I would/will actually need to sustain myself
  and others (as opposed to the 'national average'). The amount I need to
  grow dictates the minimal area of grain producing land I need to find in a
  property. The amount of land and its use dictates equipment and materials
  required etc...

• The flaker and mill are a result of
  my study of bread (which in itself is an off shoot from the philosophy of
  buying only ingredients rather than processed goods) which has lead down
  some interesting avenues. I now understand the difference between
  milled/milling/ground/grinding/rolled/rolling/flaked/crushed from both a
  commercial and industrial perspective and have tracked down bread to its
  simplest form (I think!)

• The simplest form of 'bread' is essene
  bread which surprise surprise is also the most nutritious so now I'm
  looking for a good quality (fitness for purpose and longevity) manual
  mincer

 From
a permaculture design perspective:

• Processing by
  milling/grinding/rolling/crushing etc... increase the digestibility of
  food, having the ability to carry out the process of
  milling/grinding/rolling/crushing etc... means I can store food in it
  natural form and use when required (independance)
  
• The natural forms of a produce
  (berries/seeds/roots etc...) can be stored over time whereas the processed
  form cannot e.g. Wheat berries will store for years and can be
  ground/milled into 'fresh' flour quickly as requried. Milled flour will
  stale after several weeks, and be rancid within months (storage dependant) - similar scenario
  for most processed staples

• the grain I am using is organically grown in
  NZ, milled by the farmer and supplied to and by a local store. Flour from
  the super market has been purchase by the store, from a supplier who
  bought from buyers who buy from mills who purchase in bulk from merchants
  (speedmilling and addition of additives to increase shelf life) who buy from farmers who grow
  the grain under corporate agribiz guidlines with petroleum byproducts in
  foreign countries. Each one of these 'hands' rightly making a profit from
  the trasactions and increasing the final cost (and age) of my 'flour'

• The reduced dependance on processed
  food reduces my environmental footprint and supports localisation
• Removing myself from the processed
  food chain is healthy and supports organic growers and 'My' community 
• Well made/repairable/manually
  powered/fit for purpose devices which create independence are very
  useful/desirable to help cope in a descent scenario

• It is important for
  permaculturalists (individuals and communities) to be aware of their own
  consumption - it adds perspective to things/scenario
  modelling/brainstorming




• It is important for designers to
  understand client crop/staple requirements, harvest volumes/sowing
  rates/crop areas/processing methods/handling/storage... etc etc to ensure
  successful designs as opposed to models

Chewbyka