This is Purple Straw wheat—a traditional heritage variety, grown by Stephen and Tania Walter at Burrum Biodynamics, with the support of the team at Blue Wren Bakery. Like the rest of Burrum’s grains, it’s grown using Demeter-certified biodynamic farming, without synthetic inputs or chemical fertilisers.

Purple Straw is a soft-textured wheat with distinctive reddish-purple straw and kernels that mill into a delicate, slightly sweet wholemeal flour. It was once widely grown in Australia before falling out of commercial use. Today, it’s making a small but meaningful return through farmer-baker collaborations that focus on seed preservation and flavour.

Ideal for home milling, baking, and wholegrain pastries, this wheat is a favourite among sourdough bakers looking for a gentler, more nuanced flour. It performs beautifully in rustic loaves, flatbreads, or even cakes and biscuits where a softer wheat is preferred.

Why we love it:

• Grown by Burrum Biodynamics in Marnoo, VIC

• A true heritage wheat, not a modern hybrid

• Demeter-certified biodynamic

• Soft-textured, slightly sweet grain

• Excellent for home milling, pastries, biscuits and cakes

About the grain:

Purple Straw is a traditional wheat variety with a long history in Australia, often grown before industrial hybrids became the norm. It’s known for its distinctive purple hue in the straw and grain, as well as its lighter protein profile and mild, almost creamy flavour.

This variety has been grown out and nurtured over several seasons in collaboration with Blue Wren Bakery, who’ve documented the process—from seed to field to loaf—in a series of blog posts (start here).

About the farm:

Burrum Biodynamics is a family farm on the Wimmera plains of western Victoria. Stephen and Tania Walter have been farming biodynamically since the late 1990s, focusing on soil health, biodiversity, and truly sustainable grain production. You can read more about their work here.

FAQs

Is Purple Straw a landrace?

No, it’s a heritage single variety—more stable than a landrace, but still far from modern monocultures. It retains strong flavour and regional character.

What’s the flour like?

It mills into a soft, slightly sweet wholemeal flour with good extensibility and a creamy crumb. Suitable for sourdough loaves, pastries, and lighter wholegrain baking.

Can I mill this grain at home?

Absolutely. This grain has been cleaned up on farm and is now ready for home milling. A small electric or stone mill will turn this grain into fresh, fragrant flour ideal for baking.

Is it organic?

They’re certified biodynamic through Demeter, which meets and exceeds organic standards. That means no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or GMOs—and a focus on holistic, regenerative agriculture.

What are biodynamic preparations?

They’re natural preparations made from herbs and minerals used in small amounts to support soil life and plant health. For example, horn manure and compost herbs help improve nutrient cycling and soil biology. You can learn more about them here.

What’s the best way to store grain?

Keep the grain in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. For longer storage, consider refrigeration or freezing to protect from pantry pests. For more info, check out our blog post on pests, here

Please note: because the grower rotates their crops each year, so it is not uncommon to find other seeds mixed in with your grain (it shouldn't be too much). Mixed cropping ensures a healthy soil that allows the growers to reduce their dependance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

Practice for conventional growers is to poison their paddocks before planting the new season crops to ensure old season crops don’t come through, being an organic crop this is thankfully not an option.