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South West Grain Network

@swgrainnetwork

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A community of farmers, millers, bakers & supporters working to create an alternative, non-commodity grain economy.
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Calling all chefs and bakers in the South West 🌾🥖

If you want to explore locally grown grains and learn how to use their amazing flavours in your kitchen, joining the @swgrainnetwork is the way to go.

It’s a fantastic community of chefs, bakers, millers, brewers, farmers & growers working together to build an alternative grain economy; one that is non-commodity and grounded in friendship and collaboration.

The benefits of joining the community?
👉Gain knowledge & wisdom from peers within the network
👉Discover different grains and their amazing flavours & qualities
👉Strengthen your food business by using climate-resilient grains
👉Help foster ecological (think soil health and grain diversity) & social well-being

Head to @swgrainnetwork and check out their substack/website (in their bio) to explore how you can get involved and change up the grains in your kitchen.

Based elsewhere in the UK? Find your local network by heading to ukgrainlab.com where there is both a list and map of all the networks in the UK!

#swgrainnetwork #ukgrainlab #todaysmenu by @swgrainnetwork

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10 months ago

Follow the South West Grain Network on Substack! (link in our bio)

This is a fresh space for our newsletter; to share stories from across the network and showcase the incredible actions of farmers, bakers and milers from the South West who are taking active steps to bring into being a new food system.

You can read news and stories from members such as @fika.exeter, @gothelneyfarmer, @farmer_johnp, @fieldbakery, @hughlt and Carrie Triffet

Spot the faces in the photos of talented folk such as @sidwellstreetbakehouse @longstrawbakery @lunasbakehousedevon @hylstenbakery @heylbakery @lucho.bakes @woodadventfarm @landracebakery @ampneybrookfarm @heloisetrott @ruperts_bakehouse @leola_bakery @velobakery @hobbshousebakery @mariannebakes @wearebriarbakery @the_kind_kitchen_baker @the_experimentalfarmer @tamarisk_farm @manorfarmdorset @fortescue_farm @dartingtonmill @apricotcentre @cornish_golden_grains @shillorganics @glebehousedevon @ombexeter @thebreadshedcornwall

Subsatck offers a view into the interconnectedness of the network and helps to platform voices from micro-bakeries, to mid scale farmers, to product development experimentation, to knowledge exchange - all telling the story of real change and dare I say it hope.

Follow us - subscribe - donate - add your voice.

#substack #foodsystems #bread #grain #farming by @swgrainnetwork

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10 months ago

On Monday, a group of 50 South West Grain Network baker, miller, farmer and supporter members gathered together for our first ever AGM.

It was a chance for old friends and new faces to mingle and chat, make connections and feed into the future direction of the network. We prioritised long breaks between the presentations with plenty of time to allow conversations to flow and baked goods to be savoured.

During the day we:
⏳ Reflected on the journey of the network to this point
👏 Heard about the amazing work that coordinator Robyn has been up to over the last 18 months.
📍Discussed how we can decentralise and empower local members to organise and focus on regional needs
💡 Shared ideas about what people want next from the network
📣 Heard about how resource being put into comms will help tell the story of the network over the coming months
🤝 Fed into what a membership structure could look like.

We were kindly hosted by @universityofbristol in the new Sloane Robinson Building, a beautiful light space right by the train station and river, and our delicious lunch was provided by the amazing team at @hartsbakery featuring some freshly stonemilled flour from @fieldbakery and @gothelneyfarmer

If you weren’t able to attend, keep an eye out for the full write up coming on our Substack in the coming week or so! by @swgrainnetwork

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4 days ago

What a wonderful day Zelah and Freddie have had at the @swgrainnetwork ‘s First ever AGM, thanks to Robyn for making the day flow smoothly and for organising such a wonderful community gathering.

It was great to see what the future may hold for SWGN and lots of interesting conversations and connections were made.

Thank you to @hartsbakery for supplying this delicious and nutritious lunch.

Freddie and zelah will be back in the bakery tomorrow morning getting ready to bring you our sourdough on Wednesday. by @swgrainnetwork

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6 days ago

Booking is now open for our First Ever Annual general meeting!

Monday 28th September.

This is the first all network meeting in 18 months and a real chance for the network to feed into the shape of the future.

Places are limited so book early.

Please fill out the membership survey ahead of the day which we'll dig into during the AGM

Lunch will be offered by @hartsbakery and we are hosted by @universityofbristol

Any questions feel free to reach out

Booking and survey link in our bio

See you there!

Photo courtesy of Rosy Benson @fieldbakery by @swgrainnetwork

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a month ago

SAVE THE DATE
28th September
10am arrival for 11 am start
End time - 5pm
University of Bristol - Temple Meads

South West Grain Network
First - Annual General Meeting (AGM)

So an AGM might sound dry, but we are very excited to host our members and feedback on grain network activities since our last all network event back in February 2025 (!)

We are finalising all the info and booking link, so please just bookmark the date and location for now.

If you need to book trains book them to Bristol Temple Meads station as the venue is directly at the station.

Most of you have received a direct message invite or email but for those of you who hang out here - this is a reminder for you!

South West Grain Network is part of the global grassroots movement for food sovereignty and as such we are driven by our members voices.

28th Sept is the time to come together and co-create how we act next in this radical movement for change.

See you there! by @swgrainnetwork

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2 months ago

The last couple of weeks Pain aux raisins have appeared on the menu and I think it’s here to stay.
A laminated brioche, rum soaked raisins glazed in a rum and brown sugar glaze. Every ingredient has baught something to the table to make this extra special.
Shouts to the growers and producers for this pastry. @ampersanddairy for the cultured butter
@cornish_golden_grains and @swgrainnetwork for the flour - April bearded and TSW.
@christreenfarm for the milk.
@loveday_distilling for the delicious spiced rum.

Making delicious pastries is not just a skill in construction it’s all in the sourcing the best ingredients.

Thank you @out_west_studio for the picture snapped from this weeks bake sale @sandysdeli_falmouth

See you this saterday for more <3 by @swgrainnetwork

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2 months ago

New Substack article to reflect on a day with @lukedoesbread and @landracemilling at @westcombe with the South West Grain Network.

24 bakers gathered to dive into Landrace's way of working - intuitive, embodied and relationships focussed.

We met ten different varieties of grain working with colour, texture, smell, and taste.

What stood out was a different way of working.
Not controlling the grain, but listening to it.
Not chasing uniformity, but responding to variation.

A system built on relationship, between farmer and baker, mill and grain, people and place.

Small, slow, and collaborative, but already shifting how things are done.

Thank you so much to Luke and Steve and the wider @landracebakery team. Thank you to Tom at Westcombe and to all the bakers who made the day special.

@happybellybakeryuk, @mariannebakes, @sidwellstreetbakehouse, @heylbakery, @farrobakery, @glebehousedevon, @shepherds_corner_dorset, @fika.exeter, @hartsbakery, @thekindkitchenbakery, @the_kind_kitchen_baker, @fieldbakery, @leola_bakery, @britishlarderlout, @lunasbakehousedevon, @dartingtonmill

New piece on Substack (link in bio)

#milling #baking #peer-to-peer #southwestgrainnetwork taken in Westcombe Dairy by @swgrainnetwork

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5 months ago

Huge thank you to @sidwellstreetbakehouse for hosting a flurry of Zine creators yesterday.

Members of the South West Grain Network gathered with @exeterseedbank and members of the @landworkersalliance for a day of creativity, radical inspiration, conversation and analogue re-set.

Inspired by Joe @wearebriarbakery who, tired of social media, is choosing to connect to his customers with an old school hand made Zine.

If you grew up in the 90’s attending punk, DIY and hardcore shows, fan zines - hand made and traded for free or pennies were everywhere. This day of creativity brought in the joy of making in a low fi and un pressured way.

In the world of baking and much of the rest of our lives - the pressure is felt to perform to a perceived aesthetic perfection. Returning to the simplicity of hand made, imperfect zines reaffirms a position of radical acceptance and resistance to a commodified, industrialised and now increasingly AI generated world.

This was the first public facing and actively collaborative event with sister organisations who are deeply aligned with SWGN values and it offered a richness of conversation and possibility. It was also great to welcome families to join with kids and hold a playful space together.

If you want to collaborate and share space with the SWGN please feel free to reach out. The answer is always community 💚

#zine #DIY #creativity #handmade Zine making supplies taken in Exeter, Sidwell Street by @swgrainnetwork

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5 months ago

🌾I’m excited to have been included in the upcoming Rural Futures: Local Solutions to Global Problems hosted by @messumswest and @commontreasures_

This will be a weekend of talks, walks and shared food bringing together people working in rural places across the UK on community-led projects that build social and economic resilience while actively caring for the landscapes and ecosystems they belong to.

The theme of the weekend is how local and regionally specific approaches can address complex planetary issues, with a focus on the role networks and co-operative structures play in enabling distributed action, particularly in rural places.

I’ll be contributing from the perspective of the South West Grain Network — sharing some of what we’re learning about rebuilding regional grain economies, supporting farmers, bakers and millers, and creating more connected, place-based food systems.

I’m also excited to be there for the launch of COMMONPLATE with @cherrytruluck , @t.wilford2 and @lizzyhaughton — a radical community-supported dining project developed out of @canteen_frome.

It’s a powerful example of what it means to treat food as a shared commons: re-localising control, widening access, and working in relationship with nature rather than against it.

Alongside the talks, the weekend includes a series of shared meals that celebrate land, season and locality — from a fire-cooked communal lunch to a feast rooted in food traditions, a slow breakfast, and even a leftovers picnic (nothing wasted).

🗓 9th May 📍 Messums West, Tisbury

If you’re interested in rural futures, food systems, or how local action connects to global challenges, it would be great to see you there.

Tickets via the Messums website (link in bio).

I’m speaking alongside a host of excellent people:

* Jez Ralph @evolving_forests
* Laura Tyley @thislivingplace
* Loretta Bosence @localworkstudio
* Maria Benjamin @dodgson_wood ;
@lake_district_tweed
* Tim Crabtree @wessexcommunityassets
* Tom Ebdon @tom_ebdon_architecture
* Ambrose Gilick @ais4architecture
* Ian Thomas @welcometoourwoods
*Andrew Admondson @andrewamondson by @swgrainnetwork

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5 months ago

Join the South West Grain Network for a creative social Zine Making Workshop in collaboration with members of the @landworkersalliance and @exeterseedbank

We'll be @sidwellstreetbakehouse in Exeter on
Sunday April 26th
10-3.30pm
(sign up link in our bio)

Zines have a long, radical history. They are small, self-published booklets made by ordinary people who want to share ideas, stories, art, and knowledge outside of mainstream publishing.

From punk scenes and feminist movements to environmental campaigns and community organising, zines have been a powerful DIY tool for people who want their voices heard.

Part of what makes zines special is how simple and accessible they are. A zine might be made with a pen, a pair of scissors, and a photocopier. Anyone can make one.

There are no rules, no editors, and no gatekeepers — just a chance to express something that matters and share it with others.

For communities like the South West Grain Network, zines offer a creative way to document knowledge, celebrate local food cultures, and tell the stories behind the grain: from field to mill to bakery.

They can hold recipes, growing experiences, drawings, reflections, practical skills, and ideas about building a better food system.

In this workshop we’ll explore the spirit of DIY publishing and make our own zines together. You don’t need to be an artist or a writer — just bring curiosity, stories, and a willingness to experiment.

#zine #zinemaking #DIY #selfpublish #agroecology taken in Exeter, Sidwell Street by @swgrainnetwork

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6 months ago

How we make #RealBread 🥖

The aim of Real Bread Week is to champion bread that is made with chemical raising agents, "processing aids" or any other additives. These can typically be found in many of the prepackaged loaves you find for sale in your local supermarket, and are a consequence of modern industrial food production processes.

The sad fact is that these methods, and other modern food practices (such as breeding high gluten, chemical dependent wheat varieties), make these breads less nutritious, blander, and, for some people, harder to digest.

We don't use any of these in our bakery. We rely solely on our sourdough levain to prove our doughs, which is made with locally grown stoneground flour, water and salt. Simple, tasty, nutritious and sustainable.

#heylbakery #sourdough #Plymouth #bread taken in Heyl Bakery by @swgrainnetwork

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7 months ago