Saturday morning – I simply do not understand why there is a run on flour – it started way before the Shelter at Home order. Are all these people baking?
They must be I suppose.
But how does a big company like Bob’s Mill who say they mill local wheat – how do they run out of flour so fast and we have not. They are a huge conglomerate- with massive mills and I would imagine a huge supply of wheat. America grows lots of wheat. In fact America grows lots of food – the virus has not affected that – so what is going on.
At Janie’s Mill we turn out freshly milled flour every day. We have flour. There is a space for notes in your order form so do tell me it is you so I can expedite your order.
We are running out of everything but we are getting flour out. Tape. Boxes. Bags. All on back order but we stream along!
Anyway – as you can see my time is consumed by the mill. I have a huge retail order to bag and box and get out today then tomorrow I hope to have my first Sunday off in ages. I don’t even know how long it has been since I had a day off.
I will start late today so I hope to take some photos for you before I go in. Maybe I will get some dough started and bake tonight. Though the sooner I go in to work the sooner I will be back. One of my families is holed up at a beach in New Zealand 
Sunday: Are you all safe in your houses? Tell me how you are doing – talk amongst yourselves until I am done. I want to know from as many countries as possible so we can all get a big view. Everyone on lock down dims the big picture.
This picture is from my son in Canada. He said since the ski fields are closed and the people were forced to stay away – the animals are out in droves. I feel awful that I cannot get to my children if I need to.
In NZ, anyone coming into the country must self isolate for 14 days, plus NZ is on full lock down now – the borders are closed. And the plane journey would be deadly. That knowledge is making me fractious and anxious. I can go home but I choose not to, in case I bring illness to my families.
Best to stay in my own mill to home to mill bubble. We really cannot be complacent. 
Tuesday evening : Take care now – chin up – hold the line. This is new territory for us all.
We shipped 217 boxes today. A new record!
Wednesday morning already? I fell asleep last night with you on my hand.
Good morning!
Talk amongst yourselves- I will be back in a few hours I hope!
Lots of love
Cecilia
The Kitchen's Garden 
87 responses to “WE HAVE FLOUR”
As I sit here in London (England) bored to my back teeth maybe I should envy your busyness and sense of purpose. At the moment my only purpose in life seems to be not to get ill and put a strain on the health service. Oh dear, that sounds rather gloomy but really, I’m OK. Freezer and kitchen cupboards stocked to bursting, TV with plenty of channels, and internet. Video calls have to replace actual physical contact.
Keep up the good work.
Hi Caz – what would we do without the internet!
i think people are stocking up with the essentials for the long haul. as a kindy teacher, i can tell you that parents are also buying lots of flour for art projects/playdough –
Oh no! I never thought of play dough ! Evening Eth!
I suspect that some people are hoarding flour who have never baked a loaf or cooked a cake in their lives, in case they are forced to learn how to do so when they’ve run out of other food! It’s very annoying for those of us who always cook things from scratch. I can’t eat shop-bought bread, as most of it has soya flour in it, which I can’t eat.
I hate shop bought flour! I never realized it had soya in it! Take care Sarah!
Here in the Carolinas, we are either under shelter in place orders, or all non-essential businesses have closed, depending on the state. For us on the farm, life proceeds much as usual with chores and projects. Perhaps we were isolated before all this? Never have I been more grateful for a work from home job and land to roam after work though.
Everyone, now is as good a time as any to start indoor plants or get garden seeds ready.
Also grateful to have land to roam in, in Normandy in France. The whole country is in lockdown, but we breed horses, and the mares are still foaling, keeping us really busy. We just haven’t been anywhere, and not seeing friends etc. No shortages of food here, and most things can be delivered. Missing my children and grandchildren in Greece, but they’re safe, so that’s ok. Thank god for FaceTime! Strange days indeed….
It is true that those of us who farm are much more accustomed to staying round home. And I agree about getting the gardens in this year!
Greetings from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Trying my hand at baking beyond bread with the likes of croissants and brioche. Great time to learn new to me skills. Just wish I had family around to help me enjoy these lovely creations.
Take Care All!
Brioche!!! Yum. And – yes – that’s the thing with baking – you need so end to help you eat it!
Here close to Miss C I am still working. The post office is considered essential so off to work I go each day. Yesterday I was given a spit guard. A piece of plexi glass in a stand. It will go on my counter today. I scrub every day before I open. My son also works at a post office 20 miles west of mine. They were notified they have 2 confirmed cases in that town so I am done going over there to help until April 30 th. Then I will reevaluate the situation. I am not young so I want to stay away from it for as long as possible. My husband has a pace maker so each day I come home from work I go to our basement, strip off my clothes, throw them in the wash machine and then head for the shower. I consider myself lucky tho. My oldest sister has a grandson who’s wife is a nurse in New York City. It horrible there. I can’t even begin to imagine what she sees there every day. On a lighter note we are to see the sun some this week. That would be a welcome change.
Hello from tropical north Queensland. I can buy fresh food (except eggs) but not store cupboard items like flour and sugar and pasta and rice. Never mind. I have a few kilos of bread flour, some pasta flour, some self-raising cake flour, so I can carry on baking if I want to. I’m self-isolating because my post-chemo immune system is not very robust and I get every chest infection going. It’s not very different at all from my daily life, except that I don’t just nip out for some thread, or a haircut, or coffee with a friend, and most of my limited social life is now conducted on Skype, FaceTime and Zoom! So, everyone, S3: Stay home, stay safe, stay well.
Yes! Plus you have so many colorful projects on the go!
Morning, here in north central Ontario isolation is a way of life. No one is frantic yet but somewhat worried about the upcoming spring and summer season. We are in cottage country and rely heavily on just two months of the year to make a living. I’m fine at my bakery although it is very quiet and I’ve done little baking. It’s been a strange year for me even without this emergency and now my place is sold and I’m preparing to move onto a new adventure. The new young couple that have bought the place are going to do something interesting; establishing a center for birds of prey : http://theeyrie.ca
I continue to experiment with youtube videos as Bakerpete and hope to document what I do over the next couple of years. I will establish a new bakery but it will likely be a couple of years before I open; have to build a place first. I’ll be fine, I’m more worried about my son and his girlfriend, they live in Toronto. They both have somewhat compromised health, he has asthma, but they are sheltered in place and have money to keep them going for a while. Still, they both work as stage technicians and there’s no events happening for the foreseeable future. Stay safe everyone and I hope this emergency has some permanent good changes like relocalization.
You have wonderful plans!!and like some of the rest of us being a little remote anyway makes it easier.
People are also buying up baby chicks too and planting seeds! We wanted new chicks this year and the clerk told me that they are gone the first hour they come in! I was very shocked. And I thought the same thing about the flour, the people who don’t know how to cook must be buying up all the meat and flour. But probably storing it not actually using it.
I forgot to say, I work part-time at Walmart, which is now considered a dangerous job. And can you post a link to your mill? Thanks!
Never mind I see the link….
Glad you found us. I am worried about the sheer volume of what people are buying / our flour needs to be stored cold – if it is warm for too long it will go off – that’s why I advise people to only buy what they can fit in the fridge.
Hi from Midcoast Maine! Being retired, our lives have been impacted most by not being able to have our grandson visit and have overnights, but Facetime and Zoom are helping us along! Missing friends and worrying about family who are working in hot spots. Cooking, baking, spinning and knitting are keeping me busy as usual. As Sourwood Hill noted, we are very grateful for lots of land to roam and help keep us sane.
Plus as well as being able to get outside we all have lots of food! No need to to the shops.
Here in Chicago the streets are very quiet and it happened so quickly I am sure most of us did not prepare like we might have for a blizzard with the necessary supplies. The fear of not knowing how long this would last sent many running to the store. Also the idea that we many not have any income for an unknown time created some binge buying. Recently at the store I noticed the bread aisle still had lots of product, the baking supplies aisle was empty of all but some spices. Much of it must be all the small children now home with very little to do, so it becomes those projects put on the back burner until we have time and now is the time. Here come those Christmas cookies we did not make this year. Best wishes to all of you and remember to wash your hands always.
It is lovely to think about lots of children baking!
The Isle of Man, has closed it Boprder. The last passengers arrived on the
night ferry from Heysham, Lancster ,last Friday. Only passengers allowed now
require must hold an authorisation issued by the Chief Secretary to confirm that
the passenger is a person who is required to perform specific essential work on the Isle of Man.
Wow. That should do it!
Washington state, what was once the epicenter of the outbreak in the USA. I feel we have fallen into a rhythm at this point, although too many people are still choosing to ignore the isolation and stay at home orders. I work in healthcare. It is just as bad as you read or see on the news and policies change from day to day because no one was prepared for this.
Take care Miss C, and everyone around the world who reads this.
💚
Working in healthcare is a dangerous job now – you take care too!
I’m from Southern Ontario Canada, an hour from Toronto. There is not an egg, let alone flour at our local supermarket. Like most, we are in lockdown.
I worry about my son who is a doctor in a big hospital in Brisbane and his wife a pharmacist. They are certainly in the front lines. He reassures he takes all the necessary precautions but you know moms.
I do know Moms. I totally get that. I hate being so far from my children at this time .
I saw a story about an army of ducks used for pest control in a vineyard – that I thought you might like it.
I saw that story before…very interesting…also is the fact that they have geese in the role of duck protector. I have a goose and she seems to protect my chickens as well.
Geese have traditionally be used as guards, being an alternative to or in conjunction with dogs. Some drakes can be a pretty good burglar alarm too!
Geese scare me ! They are so big. I love that duck story – I want that many ducks !
I could just see them all out in your fields!
Hi Celi, Toronto here, also in lock down. Tomorrow or the next day we shall hear of more essential services being closed. I hope it’s not the LCBO! We try to shop only every two weeks but I couldn’t get eggs last week so we will try again tomorrow. I took the last flour from the shelves. Other than that, they are restocking every day.
The best thing we’ve done is had some virtual video cocktail parties, helps make things feel normal. Take care of yourself and John. Thinking of you. XOXO