by Mike Rosso
Above the din of motors, drive belts and grinders, Kris Gosar demonstrates the wheat milling process his father designed and built 40 years ago. In the final step of the process, the finely ground, brownish-white, Mountain Mama brand whole wheat flour is bagged and weighed on an aging, mechanical scale, then sealed and stacked atop other bags awaiting delivery to bakeries and stores around the region.
The local foods operation, located on the Gosars’ ranch, southwest of Mosca, Colorado and north of Monte Vista, in the middle of the San Luis Valley, is decidedly low-tech. There are no computers monitoring the motor speeds or coarseness and temperature of the milled flour; this is done with the human senses, employing sight, smell and sound, much like it was done a century ago. “Even when the weather changes, it can change the process a little bit,” said Kris.