Mini Miss Bread: Soil to Sourdough

THIS COULD BE BRILLIANT...

* Would you like the chance to follow the journey of your Mini Miss Bread loaf from soil to sourdough?

* Do you care about the provenance of your food?

* Would you like to be part of a unique project together with the MMB team?

MINI MISS BREAD : SOIL TO SOURDOUGH

We (by which I mean us – MMB and you) have got an amazing opportunity to get our very own MMB field of heritage grain (think einkorn, emmer, rye), grown and then milled on our behalf, just half an hour away from Saffron Walden. It would then be delivered to MMB by the bucket load ready for us to turn into the most incredible, unusual, flavoursome sourdough for you.

Some of you will have recently seen me raving about a heritage flour that is grown on fields not far from MMB, in Sawbridgeworth. The farm is called Duchess Farms (many of you may have a bottle of their rapeseed oil in your kitchen already) and they are doing some very exciting things to build their regenerative farm to enable more of us bakers, home and professional, to get hold of their stunning flour. At the moment they are growing a small amount of ancient grains, sending them off site to get cleaned and milled and then brought back in house to package out and ship off. But they have just launched a crowdfund to raise money to buy a dehuller and a mill so that everything can be done on site and their productivity can grow. You can learn more about their project and the important work they are doing on the farm by watching this short video:

For every donation Duchess Farms receive they are offering rewards ranging from a bag of their beautiful heritage flour, to meals and baking classes in London. And this is where it gets exciting. If anyone were to donate £3,000, in return they would be given an acre of Duchess Farms field for a year, on which the team at Duchess Farms would grow an ancient grain of the donator’s choice. It would then be milled and a tonne of the resulting flour delivered to the recipient in Autumn 2021. 

I think we should get an MMB field.  I say we because not only do I need your help to raise the funds but I want to get as many of you as possible involved, so you too can enjoy being part of the project. So instead of pledging a tenner to Duchess Farms, getting your bag of very nice flour and knowing you’ve done a worthy thing, what about donating your tenner to the MMB: Soil to Sourdough fund instead so that we can put all the money together, pledge that to Duchess Farms and get a whole load more back in return.

THIS IS WHAT WE PROPOSE:

* Pledge a minimum of £10 to the pot, but by all means donate more if you can. All contributors will, however, be treated equally and get the same reward in return, because we want as many people to get involved as possible and we want everyone to have equal access to this project. This is really important to us. A level playing field (excuse the pun) in a post-covid society. But if you believe in what we and Duchess Farms are doing and can afford to donate more then please do. We really want to reach our target!

* In return, if we reach our £3000 goal, we will get our acre of field for a year and you will become part of the MMB Soil to Sourdough project. As a member you will receive:

* A 1kg bag of Duchess Farms Heritage Grain Flour to dabble with at home.

* Regular updates on how our grain is getting on and every milestone it reaches. 

* The option to join us on our site visits to our MMB : Soil to Sourdough field so you can see how our grain is doing and meet the team at Duchess Farms.

* And then in September 2021 we will receive one tonne of our MMB: Soil to Sourdough freshly milled flour and the MMB team will make every contributor two loaves of sourdough made from our MMB : Soil to Sourdough flour (depending on how many supporters the project has there may well be many more treats to give you, baked with our flour. We will keep baking with it until it runs out and YOU will get to enjoy the fruits of our labour absolutely free as a thank you for being part of the project). 

* A 1kg bag of your MMB : Soil to Sourdough flour

* Unique MMB recipes developed by us and the Duchess Farms team to try out with your flour.

* You will also be proud to know that you have been part of a movement to change the way flour is produced in this country, for the better. 

We really believe this is an incredible opportunity to be part of something special and revolutionary. It is important to the farming industry and the way our food is grown in the UK in the future. And it is happening practically on our doorstep! We should  get involved.

We've got just three weeks to raise these funds and secure our field. So for the cost of two loaves of sourdough why not make a pledge by clicking on the blue 'Select Reward' box on the right of the screen? If you can top up your pledge with an additional donation we'd be very grateful. Either way you’ll get those loaves back in 2021, but made from your very own grain, an adventure along the way and a whole load of feel good factor (N.B if we don't raise enough funds and we have to stop the project you will be refunded 100% of your pledge and donation).

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

Megan x