This year, we were able to sow and harvest just over three acres of Granton Rouge D’Ecosse at the farm – the largest amount so far. It was enough to send off to our friends at Lapwings Community Mill for processing, and earlier this month, we took delivery of the first sacks of wholemeal flour, and whole grains (for home milling).

In collaboration with the farm community and an amazing network of growers, bakers and millers, we have overcome many challenges to get to this point, and there are plenty more to come – both practical and financial. The future is not certain. But this is a special moment, and the flour, and grains, are available to order now!

Click here for flour and grain purchase details and order form

The Granton Rouge D’Ecosse Wheat Story

We call this ‘our’ wheat. But its story started with Scottish farmers 200+ years ago, then it got lost, then found again in far away seed banks, and returned to Scotland only a wee while ago, passing through many custodians along the way.

Rouge D’Ecosse wheat was common in the 19th century in Scotland. But the seeds got lost with the arrival of industrial farming. In 2012, Andrew Whitley and Veronica Burke formed ‘Scotland The Bread’ (now Bread for Good) with a mission to find our heritage varieties and bring them back. Andy Forbes of Brockwell Bake Association searched seed banks around the world, and Mike Ambrose at the John Innes Centre germinated the handful of seeds Andy found. Scotland the Bread took delivery of a handful of packets of viable seeds, and shared them out to people who were able to grow them on. Since then, farmers and community growers have been working patiently to bulk up the stash of seeds.

In north Edinburgh, Granton Community Gardeners took up the challenge, sowing on local street corners, saving and re-planting more seeds every year. When Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op got the lease of Lauriston Farm, the Granton Gardeners were able to share the seeds with the team, to scale it up further. It took several more years of sowing, saving and re-sowing at the farm to have enough to send off for milling. 2026 was the first year we had enough to process, and now we have flour! (and some grains, for anyone who does home milling).

Rouge D’Ecosse wheat growing in the field at Lauriston Agroecology Farm

Why is Rouge D’Ecosse Special?

Rouge D’Ecosse is is an ancient Scottish grain, recognised in the Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. It is classed as a Heritage Landrace Grain. Heritage grains were developed to grow without chemicals in traditional organic systems. They are usually tall, to out-compete weeds, and long-rooted, to access more of the soil’s nutrients than today’s short-stemmed varieties. Now Rouge D’Ecosse has been growing in Granton for over ten years, our own seeds are particularly adapted to our land, water and air, making them more resilient.

Heritage varieties often have better nutrition than modern varieties. Scotland the Bread did some nutritional analysis on Rouge D’Ecosse in 2015, which found that this grain is higher in Calcium, Manganese, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Zinc than typical modern varieties. We supply the flour wholemeal, to keep these nutritious qualities. It is the bran layers which contain all the important nutrients.

It’s also special because this wheat growing project is a true community effort. Our flour is only possible thanks to the amazing network of folk in Scotland and the UK working to revive a diverse grain system. This includes the work of Bread for Good (Scotland the Bread), Granton Garden Bakery, Lapwings Community Mill, Balmakewan Farm and Adam Pollock. Plus the incredible farm community of volunteers and our very supportive sowing and harvest contractors.

This is one effort among many to bring back home-grown grains, putting this part of the food system back into the hands of local communities.

Flour in mill – photo by Lapwing Community Mill

Flour & Grains for Sale

We have bagged flour in various sizes, from individual 1kg bags up to bulk or wholesale orders. For anyone who is milling at home, you can also buy whole grains.

You can order direct from the farm:

Click here for flour and grain purchase details and order form

or you can buy from Granton Garden Bakery on Saturdays 10am-1pm (along with their incredible bread, which they will be making using the flour)