axtenfarms

Natural Nutrition

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 15:59:24 GMT

Natural Nutrition

The history of white bread is surprisingly emotional when you really think about it. What once began as an expensive status food eventually became a highly refined industrial staple. Along the way, much of what made grain nourishing was stripped away. When it became clear that refined flour no longer provided essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals, they were added back in through enrichment. Whole-grain flour is made by grinding the entire grain—bran, germ, and endosperm—without removing any parts. As a result, it naturally retains the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats found in the whole grain, making it more nutritious than white flour.

Flour has never been just an ingredient. It’s part of our everyday lives. It’s the sandwiches we pack into our kids’ lunches, the birthday cakes we bake, the muffins shared around the kitchen table, and the cupcakes that mark life’s little celebrations. These are the foods we return to again and again — foods tied to comfort, tradition, and care.

When we installed our flour mill, it wasn’t simply about producing flour. It was about intention. We wanted to mill whole grain flour in a way that honoured the grain itself — keeping the natural vitamins, minerals, fibre, and character intact. We wanted flour that looked and tasted alive, flour that brought colour, aroma, and depth of flavour back into baking.

Our goal was never to create a niche product that only a few people could use. We wanted to make a flour that parents could trust, that bakers and chefs could rely on, and that kids would happily eat — a flour that could truly replace all-purpose white flour without sacrificing taste, texture, or performance. Using our Unifine mill, we’ve been able to produce a fine, functional flour that works beautifully in everyday baking, from sandwiches to celebration cakes.

For us, this is about more than nutrition on a label. It’s about choosing food that is grown with care, milled with intention, and baked into the moments that matter most. It’s about returning to foods that nourish not just our bodies, but our families and communities too.

To better understand the nutritional story of our flour, we partnered with Regenified, a third-party organization that certifies farms and food products as regeneratively grown. Nutrient density testing on our flours confirmed something we had long believed.

Sharing our Story

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 17:06:49 GMT

Sharing our Story

This past summer we had the privilege of working with Regeneration Canada to share our farming journey of caring for our soil to produce healthy grains and flour. If you want a glimpse into a day in the life of Tannis and Derek and what we do, check out this short film they put together!

Milling Time

Sat, 22 Apr 2023 20:25:51 GMT

Whole Grain Flour

After much design and determination, we have finally finished installation of our on-farm flour mill. With the ability to clean our own grains, creating a whole grain flour seemed like the next logical step. Our Unifine Mill creates a beautiful fine flour from the entire grain so that we can maintain all of those great nutrients!

CHANGE

tannis@axtenfarms.ca (Tannis Axten) — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 17:14:01 GMT

"Embracing change is about adopting a growth mindset” ~ Marco Marsans

You may have noticed that we have made some changes to our website. As we are constantly making changes on the farm to grow and improve, it was time for the website to catch up! Luckily, Kate was home over the Christmas holidays to help.

Kate’s grain cart is temporarily shut down, as Kate is off to university and unable to fill orders. If you are still looking to buy small amounts of our grains, please contact us through the website and we will look after you.

You may notice that some of our products are no longer available. With this change, we have some new grains available. We are constantly adapting the crops we grow to suit our soil conditions and consumer demands. If you have questions, please ‌contact us!

Our farm is very close to having our flour mill up and running! We will post the flours on our website as soon as we have some available. We are so excited for you to try the whole grain flour produced from our Unifine Mill from our home-grown grains! Stay tuned.

Happy New Year ��

Making Compost Extract

tannis@axtenfarms.ca (Tannis Axten) — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 01:01:30 GMT

Adding Life Back to the Soil

Making compost has become an excellent way for us to recycle byproducts and supply beneficial microorganisms and nutrients to the soil. At this point, we cannot make enough compost to spread on every acre we own, so making compost extract is a way we can reach every acre. Diverse microorganisms are essential for healthy soil. Below is a video to explain how we make compost extract.

New Perspective

tannis@axtenfarms.ca (Tannis Axten) — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 19:23:56 GMT

Cook's Perspective

If there is one thing we have learned while farming, it is to keep an open mind. Being open to new ideas has challenged our way of thinking and pushed us to constantly make improvements in our farming system. Seeing our grains as food instead of a commodity has been a great transition. We want to see our products go to those who are as passionate about their ingredients and food as we are about our grains. Introducing and selling our grains to a direct market requires a brand-new perspective.

A new perspective is exactly what we needed on our farm team…a cook’s perspective! We are so honored and thrilled to be working with Bridget Bueche. Bridget is a classically trained chef who has in-depth knowledge of food ingredients. She has worked nationally with consumers, farmers, retailers, and manufacturers in their supply-chains to understand and convey the necessity and importance of high quality and nutrient-dense foods.

From our farmer perspective, we see the story behind the grain…the field and soil in which it was grown, the amount of rainfall it received, the day it was harvested, etc. Every grain we grow is something we look at with pride and satisfaction.

Bridget adds a whole new perspective on our grains. She sees our high food quality and full-flavored single-sourced grains. Bridget is excited to share our story and bridge the communication gap between farmers, food manufacturers, food artisans, home food enthusiast, wellness seekers, doctors, and their patients.

Opening our eyes to new perspectives is inspiring and exhilarating!

If you have any questions about our products or wholesale purchases, please contact Bridget at bridget@axtenfarms.ca

Regenerating our Farm

tannis@axtenfarms.ca (Tannis Axten) — Fri, 21 May 2021 03:33:01 GMT

Exciting New Changes on the Farm

We have been so focused on new projects at Axten Farms, that we had totally neglected our website! Our amazing daughter, Kate, has spent many hours to regenerate our website to truly reflect who we are and what products we have available. The best way to get wholesale pricing and availability of all our grains is to contact us directly through email. If you are just looking for a little taste, checkout out Kate’s Grain Cart.

We have also renewed our entire grain cleaning system. We went from a mobile grain cleaner to a food grade seed cleaning plant. Years were spent planning and dreaming of the seed cleaning plant and we are proud to be up and running for a year now. With our HACCP Certification, we are able to provide safe grains to consumers.

As always, regenerating the soil is our main focus! We have seen increased water infiltration and retention, which is a huge goal for us. Soil moisture allows the microorganisms activity to increase, which means they are able to cycle nutrients for healthy growth and development of our plants.

Keep watching our Instagram and the website for more updates and see what else is happening at Axten Family Farms. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!

Compost Bootcamp

Fri, 24 May 2019 02:53:55 GMT

Biostimulant Strategies for Regenerative Ag.

On July 2nd & July 3rd, 2019, Axten Farms will be hosting two 1 day workshops at Minton, Sask. Dr. Christine Jones will share the latest on Quorum Sensing and Autoinducers and Gerry Gillespie will show us how to make biological products and compost using the SPICE method. Limited space available. $250/person or $400/pair

For More information and to Register email tannis@axtenfarms.ca

Regenerating Our Soils

Thu, 16 May 2019 18:03:12 GMT

The 2017 crops have been seeded. Once again we have seeded many intercrops to increase our diversity. We have lentils/flax, mustard/maple peas, sunflowers/hairy vetch, chickpeas/flax, canola/chickling vetch, and canola/winter peas. The cereals (oats and durum) were not seeded as an intercrop, but were seeded with clovers as a companion crop.

One big change we made this year was not putting any synthetic fertilizer with our seed. This year we applied compost extract in furrow to try to boost our soil biology. With a 500 gallon compost tea brewer, we made extract to apply to our entire farm. We used the compost that we had made in the fall. Tannis examined the extract with her microscope before it was applied to see what biology were adding. We were happy with the protozoa and nematode numbers, but need to improve the fungal numbers in our compost. We are hoping to restore the soil food web that our previous farming methods have destroyed.

About Axten Farms

Thu, 16 May 2019 18:00:15 GMT

Axten Farms is a multigenerational farm that we are proud to be part of. The first Axten’s arrived in the Minton, Saskatchewean area in 1916, and we farm that original homestead today. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our ancestors, we have expanded our farm and made it what it is today. In 1973, the corporation, Axten Farms Ltd. was formed.

In the beginning, it was believed that in order to turn the natural prairie into productive farm land, it would have to be worked. At this time, the only way to control weeds and plant your seeds was to aggressively work and disturb the soil. Over the years, the idea of summer fallow also became popular. This is where farmers, including us, only seeded half the farm, while spending the summer cultivating the remainder of the land to control weeds and let the soil “rest”. As farmers watched their top soil blow away from the constant working of the soil, and herbicides were introduced, many farmers began to chem-fallow. Land that was not seeded was sprayed with chemicals that would control the weeds and keep anything from growing.

As science has progressed, many farmers now seed all of their land, and use chemicals to help control weeds and disease. As time goes on, farmers have become dependent on chemicals and fertilizers. To us, this did not seem like a solution, and we knew something was missing. This land that our ancestors homesteaded in 1916 produced a diverse amount of grass species without the land being worked or sprayed. It has taken many years of researching, learning and listening, but we believe the key is soil health. This has changed the way we farm, and as we are still learning, we feel we are moving in the right direction!

In 2007, we started using a low disturbance, no-till drill. Our goal during seeding is to move as little soil as possible. Soil is not dirt! Soil is a mixture of minerals, organic matter and living organisms required to support plant life. If you work up the soil, or disturb it in any way, you are destroying the environment needed to sustain soil health. Also, by not tilling the land and growing high residue crops, we reduce water and wind erosion. From soil tests, we know that our organic matter is increasing!

We have also implemented the use of stripper headers. So when we combine our flax and cereal crops, we just take the top of the plant, leaving tall stubble. The stubble catches an even amount of snow to provide moisture for the spring. By leaving as much residue on top of the soil as possible, it acts as armour for the soil. The soil is able to absorb rainfall impact and more water is able to infiltrate rather than run off. The decaying residue feeds the soil microbes, earthworms and other beneficial insects which allows the nutrients to cycle and build soil structure.

We have also increased diversity into our crop rotations. Our goal is to mimic Mother Nature by growing diverse plants. Having a diverse rotation helps control pests and weeds with less reliance on chemical pesticides. It also increases soil fertility with less need for synthetic fertilizer. In the last few years, we have also started intercropping. By growing two crops together, we increase diversity, reduce the spread of disease and lower input use. For example, last year we seeded maple peas with our mustard. The peas fixed nitrogen for the soil, and the mustard helps to hold the peas up and reduce weed competition.

Our goal is to have plants growing as long as the weather allows. We do this by planting cover crops. Cover crops are usually planted after harvest to reduce erosion and soil compaction, increase water infiltration and organic matter, and improve soil health.

On our farm we have struggled with soil compaction. This year, we are setting up RTK towers so that we can start controlled traffic farming. We will try to stay in the same tracks for our field operations, to reduce compaction throughout the entire field. We are excited to give this a try!

Soil health is very complex and we have a lot to learn. Our goal is to take care of what Mother Nature gave us, so that Axten Farms Ltd. is a sustainable farm and can continue for many more generations. If you choose to purchase grain from Axten Farms Ltd. , know that we take pride in how we farm and will continue to care for our soils to produce quality grains!

Why Buy Grain From Axten Farms

Thu, 16 May 2019 17:55:01 GMT

At Axten Farms, we prize sustainability above all else. That’s why we work hard to farm the land without adding to the environmental load the Earth already has to bear. On our family-owned grain farm located in Southern Saskatchewan, we do this in several ways.

We Use No-Till Faming Methods

For one thing, we use no-till farming methods. We believe that soil is one of the greatest natural resources on the planet, and we take pains to protect it. Unfortunately, many agricultural practices today damage and deplete soil, and it takes years if not decades for it to return to its natural, arable state. We avoid that with controlled traffic farming methods, which reduce the stress put on soil by heavy machinery. We always stay in the same wheel tracks when using tractors and other machinery, thereby avoiding further soil compaction. This allows water and nutrients to penetrate easily, keeping them healthy and making it easy to grow in them.

Our Farming Methods Protect The Water Supply

Our farming methods also protect the water supply now and in the future. Because no-till farming keeps soil intact, our practices reduce the amount of naturally occurring nitrates and phosphorous entering streams and lakes, where they can endanger the ecosphere. And our farming methods require fewer inputs overall, which means a reduced load on the environment, cleaner water, better soils and a sounder ecosphere for longer.

Our goal is to be a part of the movement to heal the Earth, and we believe our farming methods help us do just that. When you source your grains, legumes, pulses and seeds through our farms, you know you’re a part of that effort too.

Plus, when you buy bulk grain from us, you’re also making a smart decision financially. We stand by our products, which is why we work directly with the people buying and using them. Because of that, you always know exactly where your food is coming from when you buy from us. We value trust, and we live that value every day. By buying from us, you make a smart decision for your health and the health of the planet.