Using hand picks from North Carolina, Operations Manager Bill Schaubs starts his first solo millstone dressing project. He was taught by Upper Canada Village's Roland Tetrault. The deep furrows help the grain travel across the cutting plateaus--until done to the right consistency as judged by the miller. (Photo by Lucy Martin)
Today, we buy whatever we need from the
store. But what would happen if we had to make
our own butter or spin our own wool? We needed
these kinds of skills to survive. And many of
them took centuries to learn. Some people are
working to keep these skills alive. Lucy Martin
followed a man who works in a historic flour mill.
He’s taken the time to learn old skills that he
says still matter today:
Transcript
Today, we buy whatever we need from the
store. But what would happen if we had to make
our own butter or spin our own wool? We needed
these kinds of skills to survive. And many of
them took centuries to learn. Some people are
working to keep these skills alive. Lucy Martin
followed a man who works in a historic flour mill.
He’s taken the time to learn old skills that he
says still matter today:
(Sound of rushing water)
Bill Schaubs volunteers his time at Watson’s Mill in Ottawa, Ontario.
The old mill is powered by water. The water turns two huge millstones that cut grain into
flour. A few years ago, Schaubs learned how to maintain the millstones. He’s about to put
those lessons to the test – on one-ton wheels that are nearly 5 feet in diameter:
(sound of the Mill)
Lucy Martin: “Well, here are your beauties!”
Bill Schaubs: “They are. Absolutely! 1860’s beauties, if you will.”
Martin: “These date all the way back to then?”
Schaubs: “Yes, ma’am. They do.”
Millstones have something in common with car tires – their “tread” eventually wears down.
These wheels need to be dressed. Someone has to grind off encrusted flour
and re-chip the many grooves and surfaces, using hammer-sized picks.
It’s not a trade you
find in the yellow pages.
(sound of Shaubs chipping the wheels)
Bill Schaubs grew up on a farm. He still keeps some of his family’s land in production. But he
spent a lot of his career helping to build things for NASA. He thinks it’s important to know
many skills, old or new.
“Yes, keep the technology! It’s great; I love it too, OK? But we need to still keep our feet on
the ground and be realistic about everything.”
Schaubs says one reason to keep these traditional mills running is because of the kind of
bread you can make from them. These days, flour is typically milled in modern factories,
using high-speed metal rollers. A place like Watson’s Mill can’t possibly match those for
volume, or price.
But stone-ground flour is a specialty product. It isn’t always found at your nearby supermarket.
The high-fiber whole grain is cut, not crushed, by the stone’s sharp grooves. The process
preserves wheat’s natural oils and nutrients.
Larry Ellis is a big fan of bread made from this flour.
“I get at least one loaf, every week. It looks like it came out of your mother’s oven, sort of
thing, you know? (chuckles)”
Besides promoting things like flavor and nutrition, Bill Schaubs says there’s also a sort of
insurance factor.
“This grist mill here, is completely water-powered. So, if all else fails, we can always mill
flour.”
(sound of park visitors boarding a boat, speaking in French)
To keep the millstones in good shape, Schaubs had to learn from the experts. He came here,
to Upper Canada Village, an 1860’s era Heritage Park with its own grist mill.
Liam Carson works at the park. He says maintaining many different skills is important
because society doesn’t always know when they might be needed.
“If you can find a way of doing things that’s better, it doesn’t matter if it’s high tech or low tech,
it doesn’t matter if it’s now or then – better is better. And the more of these parallel paths you
have, that still exist, that’s a wealth of possibilities that can be accessed.”
(sound of the mill)
Back inside Watson’s Mill, the freshly-dressed millstones are ready to go. This is the test run.
(sound of wheat falling into millstones)
Bill Schaubs watches the gold-brown wheat trickle down while checking on the flour as it
comes out.
“There’s still a little bit of tweaking to do, but other than that, I’m happy! Good learning
experience, that’s for sure!”
Sometimes Schaubs worries that too many skills are getting lost. He’d like to see more
people taking the time to pick them up and pass them on. Old or new, he thinks we need
them all.
For The Environment Report, I’m Lucy Martin.