Oatmeal

I have just made the very first batch of oatmeal from the seeds I gleaned.

As this was a test batch much more needs to be done to make the process remotely viable - I have half a cup of oatmeal, with a lot of bran still in it, but it does smell fantastic. I gleaned the seed, took the outer husk off by hand - normally you'd do this by beating or walking livestock over it -- winnowed it by standing outside in the delicate Flinders breeze and dribbling it between my fingrs into a bowl - most of the lighter husk blew away. Then as per quilly instructions I roasted it -- well shoved it in a cast iron pot on the gas. It popped, like popcorn. As I haven't yet researched the cutting mill, I just rolled it a bit at time with a heavy rolling pin, and sieved the crushed seed. I'll do a finer sieve, and make some oatcakes. As I said the smell is wonderful, nutty. It tastes faintly sweet, as well as having the same roasted nut flavor.