Address

Sacks Circle, Bellville

Gideon Milling is a wheat flour mill and operates from, Bellville in Cape Town. The strength of the mill lies in the relationship between the five owners.

Their combined knowledge of wheat farming and commodity trading is vital in today’s world of agriculture. It ensures the traceability of the purchased wheat as well as consistency of quality, grades and varietals. Aubrey is the managing director and miller of the company and is responsible for communication between the farmer, the baker and the consumer.

WHY STONE GROUND?

Many people are starting to live more conscious lifestyles, and are aware of what they’re consuming and where it comes from. Agriculture has more attention on it now than ever before and consumers are actually turning their attention to farms not just bakeries and your average breadman. That’s why we feel it’s important for you to know what our process is.

The wheat germ is still intact in our flour!! This means that you not only get to bake tasty goods, but boost your immune system to stay healthy as well.

OUR FARMERS

Our supplier farmers' crops are grown in an environmentally conscious way, using no-till sowing and crop rotation methods with various crop-varieties being grown in a seasonal cycle. This method of crop-rotation enriches the soil, naturally infusing it with the nitrates, phosphates and other minerals needed to encourage earthworms and other biological processes.

The mill is very selective when it comes to buying wheat and none of the wheat purchased is genetically modified. Why is this selective purchasing of wheat important to know about? Much is made of organic and free-range farming today. The truth is that there is very little organic wheat farming in South Africa and labels can be deceiving. However, we procure our wheat from areas where minimum tillage is practiced, in essence biological farming. It works on the basis of a crop rotation system. In the West Coast, Southern Cape and Swartland areas the farmers plant canola in year one, lupins (a legume) in year two and wheat in year three. This process repeats itself with the seventh year being a rest year.

Canola grows very tall and creates a canopy above the soil which prevents weeds from growing and producing more seed, so fewer chemicals are needed. The lupins in year two are a natural source of nitrogen for the soil, thus less fertilizer is applied.

A large percentage of farmers use chicken manure, which is spread over the land before the planting season, thus decreasing the fertilizer application during the season. When the wheat is planted you have a clean seed bed and healthy soil. During the process of harvesting the straw is chopped and spread out by the combine-harvester and this material rots into the soil after a few months.

The no-till regime (no ploughing; the top layer does not get turned over) reduces or eliminates soil erosion. No-till increases the amount and variety of life in and on the soil, including disease suppression organisms.

The major benefit of no-tillage is improvement in soil biological fertility, making soils more resilient. In consequence, farming operations are more efficient, speeding up sowing time, and less fossil-fuels are used.

Recent tests show no glyphosate in the flour!