T. Lyle Ferderber, President and Co-Founder of Frankferd Farms, didn’t set out to start a mill. As he said, it was all “in the timing.”
Frankferd Farms has been in the Ferderber family for three generations. As the legend goes, T. Lyle’s father, a recreational pilot, crashed his plane in the lot across the way from what is now their family farm. Seeing that the land was beautiful, he purchased it, raising animals and growing food for the family on the farm until T. Lyle and his wife, Betty, took it over.
In June of 1978, T. Lyle lost his job working in a record warehouse. At that point in the season, there were only two things left to plant: buckwheat and sweet corn.
Working to make ends meet, he grew the buckwheat and corn — but ended up with $5,000 worth of grain that couldn’t be sold until the next year for seed.
“I was raised making buckwheat pancakes every Sunday. So, I thought, I’m going to make flour,” he said. And with a hand-cranked mill, he churned out the first product of Frankferd Farms.
After milling the buckwheat flour, T. Lyle roasted their sweet corn to create roasted cornmeal, adding that, along with wheat he purchased from another farmer and milled and baking powder, to his lineup. With four products, he began selling to a Pittsburgh-based co-op, and the milling business took off.
Today, T. Lyle still grows buckwheat and yellow corn on the farm, along with winter wheat, oats, yellow corn, and rye. Their hand-run mill has turned into three: a 35-to-45-year-old North Carolina Stone Mill for grinding rice, hard wheat flour, and cracked grains, and two hammer mills, one for soybeans, millet, corn, chickpeas, and blue corn, the other for buckwheat. In 2011, the Ferderber’s had solar panels installed on the roof of their barn, and on sunny days, the mill can be fully powered by solar.
“Keep the money local,” Jeremy, T. Lyle’s son, said. “When you go to Whole-Amazon, that money does go to the employee, and then it flies to Texas or somewhere,” T. Lyle adds.
“When you buy from us, it stays close by in the community. Strengthening a local food business also strengthens farms.” T. Lyle continues. “The more that there are businesses like ours, the better for everyone.”
Everything Frankferd bags — even the cornmeal used in tortillas — is milled-to-order; as Jeremy jokes, “It’s pretty fresh.” Harvie carries a host of Frankferd products, from their signature, freshly-milled buckwheat pancake mix to their wonderfully nutty all purpose flour and even tortillas.