Origins

Jeff Burke grew up on a dairy farm just down the road from Brule Creek Farms.  He loved farming but, as his brother had the real passion for dairy, headed off to Lakehead University to broaden his horizons.  During his studies he became involved in a research project with the Food Security Research Network and helped conduct a study to ascertain the viability of a grain mill as part of a sustainable local food system. 

The results were not surprising:  Thunder Bay needed a mill. 
Jeff had found his calling.

Wife, Andrea, who brought business savvy and strong customer service skills
to the table, was intrigued and agreed whole-heartedly to support the venture. 
While Jeff did in-depth research into heritage milling methods she began planning
the business end of a small milling operation.  Jeff traveled to other small grain
mills to find the best aspects of other millers’ processes and then came back
to the drawing-board to develop a plan for producing flours that retained as much
of the natural flavour and nutrition of their composite grains as possible.

In June 2008 Jeff and Andrea bought their first small parcel on Pokki Road in
the municipality of Conmee, just west of Thunder Bay.  That summer they grew
their first crop of wheat and built their mills.  The stones – hard to find in this
day and age - were sourced from a tiny operation in North Carolina and arrived
just in time for the crop to dry. 

Through months of painstaking experimentation Jeff and Andrea perfected
their heritage method and developed two varieties of flour they were happy
to use in their own kitchen.  In November 2008 they began selling Partially-
Sifted and Whole Grain Wheat Flours at the Thunder Bay
Country Market.