When designing an ecological food production system, we turn to nature to help guide our decisions. For example, in a healthy forest ecosystem, each plant species fills a specific niche, or role, that helps the community of plants in the system. The tall tree reaches for light and provides the shade below. The tree also provides structure for vines and other climbing plants to grow on. Ground covers grow low to the ground to keep the soil in place, conserving moisture and providing habitat for the microorganisms that live below.
The Milpa, a traditional food plant community of corn, beans and squash, mimic this system. The corn reaches for the sun providing structure for the beans to climb, and the squash crawls along the ground floor. Grown together, each plant yields more than the sum of its parts, all filling a niche and helping one another thrive.
We grow two types of traditional corn in this way, a blue corn that we use for masa and tortilla making, and a red and yellow speckled italian heirloom , Floriani, used for our fresh milled polenta integral. Each corn represents a different culture, equally as delicious. After harvest we mill all of our corn here on site in our mill, providing you with the freshest whole grain tortillas and ground polenta. We believe that freshly milled grains are an integral part of our food system and we strive to provide our community with organic whole grain products, much better and tastier than off the shelf products that have been stripped of their germ for shelf life and shippability. What you get from us is a fresh product, grown in nature’s design, and milled on site for freshness and taste. Enjoy.