Artisanal flour

Does anyone know of a Chicago area source for locally grown and ground flour? My breads have gotten increasingly rustic and I'd really like to try to bake some with flour that does not come from a commercial mill.
Thanks
Howard

I'm not sure how much my vague recollections will help, but this may be a lead for you.

I don't have the name, but there was a guest vendor from somewhere downstate at the Green City Farmer's Market a few times, I think in September. They sold many different types of flour that were locally grown and ground. You may be able to contact the market and ask who it was and then find out if they sell anywhere else locally. Good luck.

I was interviewing Paul Virant of Vie earlier this year, and he said that sourcing local flour was, for some reason, most challenging. Not exactly sure why, and as I recall, neither was he.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think one of the reasons it's os hard to find is that hardly anyone grows wheat locally anymore in our industrialized corn economy.

Well, there is no problem tracking down local grains, the real or shall I say bigger question is, what kinda grains do you want. My wife is especially vexed by the difficulty in finding the plainest whitest flours to use for pies. We did eventually find such, at a gourmet store in Detroit, who's name I cannot quite remember but I can tell you it's on Woodward just north of downtown Detroit. And I could not even remember the name on the flour, so I went to our basement, and it turns out the flour has no name. It just says "Michigan Grown Unbleached Pastry Flour" "Recommended by Achatz Bakers" (yes that family*). Anyways, this is the only stuff quite like it, local, we have ever found in our travels.

That said, it's not that hard to track down local grains. The farm mentioned above is Ackerman, from Central Illinois. Their flours are included all the time at the Daley Plaza stand as part of the Midwest Organic Co-op--you have tomorrow and next Thursday to try. Near DeKalb is a small operation called Ted's Grains. And I mean small, the grain grinder is no bigger than a meat grinder you might have on your counter. He procures and grinds a variety of grains. Cassie frequently carries his stuff at her Green Grocer, and I know that you will be able to find it at the forthcoming winter markets (info soon). My absolute favorite place for local grains is the Bonneyville Mill near Elkhart, Indiana. This is an hones-to-god water driven gristmill that dates to the mid-1800's. It was taken over and revived by the Elkhart Park District. If you can make the trek out there until 10/31, you can get things done the rightest of ways.

Speciality sources aside, there is a decent amount of wheat farming in Wisconsin and more than a decent amount of rye farming in Michigan. There is also oat farming in Michigan. At the Dane County Farmer's Market, you will usually find someone selling something grainy. At stores in Wisconsin like Outpost Natural Foods and Wiley St. Co-op, you can find local grains--except probably for pastry flour.

*Edit: I originally said Achatz pies was Grant Achatz's parents; from this link Grant Achatz's parents were in the restaurant business and specialized in pies, but Achatz Pies was more generally a business of other family members.

Oops, I forgot to add another great local grain, that produced by Greenfield Mills in Northern Indiana. There's no place in or near Chicago that sells their flours, but if you ever wander around the Amish parts of NE Indiana, you'll find.

I know that I have seen local flour at Moore Family Farms' stand at the Frankfort Market. I'm not sure where else they sell, but they are from Watseka, IL.

Suzy