Station: [603] Household Mill

M: There used to be strict rules about who was allowed to mill what and when!

F: The hirelings had the right to process oats, buckwheat or barley into groats, in other words, to hull the grains and roughly grind them.

M: The hired hands had a hand-operated mill, or quern, in the house so they could produce the groats. The hulled grain went in at the top, then you turned the vertical crank, the grains were crushed and the finished groats fell into the sack below.

F: Groats were fed to the livestock – and also eaten by the human residents. In the past, a porridge made of groats was one of the most common items on the menu. And the ingredients for the traditional coarse sausage, eaten with kale, included a large portion of groats along with pork, bacon, suet and lard.

Fotos: © Tanja Heinemann