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Maybe this is not really the right place to ask this, I hope I will not be penalized for asking this.

I am a webdeveloper, and I do most of the stuff myself, from the basic idea, till the final design and implementation. It's like when a baker has his own farm with grain, creates his own wheat, makes the bread, and sells it in his own shop.

Some time ago I heard a nice English expression for this, but I forgot what it was. It was something like producing from grain to bread. Does anyone know this expression, or can think of something that would nicely fit.

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Related: end-to-end alternatives –  RegDwigнt Aug 12 '11 at 9:55
I have looked at the related question, and even added one alternative to the list. There is still one that I have heard from my teacher that I still haven't seen. I will ask him when the vacation is over. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 14:10
"Whole lifecycle" is the phrase I'm familiar with for involvement with a project from concept to maintenance. –  Peter Taylor Aug 12 '11 at 20:16
@peter yes this comes the closest to the expression I am looking for I guess and I can surely use it. Still not exactly what I am looking for, it was is the form of from ... to .... Another one i've found is: from crop to cup. A company that sells coffee in their store from the coffee beans they grow themself. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 20:56
You've already accepted an answer, but from inception to completion might have fit as well. (Although end to end is what came to mind first...) –  Gnawme Nov 19 '11 at 8:42

10 Answers 10

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Something I hear quite commonly is "end to end", although this originally had a somewhat different meaning.

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Yes you do hear this one a lot, thank you. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 14:12
Voted up after reading the OQ's comment on JSBᾶngs' answer. Given that extra info, I think this is probably the phrase to use. –  T.E.D. Aug 12 '11 at 18:19

I believe the idiom you are looking for is "soup to nuts":

"Soup to nuts" is an American English idiom conveying the meaning of "from beginning to end". It is derived from the description of a full course dinner,

There's also "From start to finish", which is pretty clear.

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Thank you for the answer, this comes somewhat close to what I mean. It is not the exact expression I am looking for, but it's worth considering using for me. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 9:37

Something which is made ony from basic ingredients is often said to be made from scratch.

Ironically, however, making bread from scratch usually means starting from flour, rather than grain.

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Thanks for the answer, but it is not really what I was looking for. I know this expression and use it often, but the one I am looking for goes beyond building from scratch, it's about making the scratch also. Just as you say, making bread from scratch is using flour, the expression I am looking for covers the making of the flour itself. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 9:40
I guess the expression I am looking for is a bit off-topic for this forum. My question is not really about the English language, it's more a phrase that is used in production environments, sorry for that. –  Saif Bechan Aug 12 '11 at 9:44
On a side note, check out the toaster project, this takes the definition of "from scratch" to its ultimate extreme. –  Andrew Vit Nov 19 '11 at 1:22

I can't tell if you're looking for a general phrase (like the answer proposed by @Gnawme) or a domain-specific one like your grain/bread analogy. One I have heard in arts-and-crafts contexts is "from sheep to shawl", which seems analogous to your "grain to bread". There are other domain-specific ones; many of them use alliteration.

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+1 Good one. I am not really looking for a domain specific one. I was just looking for the one that I had heard before. But in this posts I have seen so many nice ones that can be used. Ill add yours to the list. –  Saif Bechan Nov 24 '11 at 0:16

A phrase used in the local food systems movement is 'from farm to table' or 'from farm to fork'

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Good one, very visual and easy to understand. Just thought of a variation to this one: From stable to table. Good slogans for farmers etc. Will remember. –  Saif Bechan Nov 19 '11 at 8:47

2 more to add to the list: From a whole cloth, and Greenfield. From a whole cloth refers to something that is not modified from an existing kernel, but is rather new in all its parts. Greenfield (or Green Field) often refers to a manufacturing facility, which is created from the ground up (starting with a green field) as opposed to repurposing an existing facility. These probably don't quite fit your question, but I'm hoping they will trigger others peoples memories. :)

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+1 This is a nice one to add to the list. Thank –  Saif Bechan Nov 19 '11 at 0:24

From seeing one of the OP's comments, and at his urging: From inception to completion.

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'From concept to completion' works well for me as I project manage retail shop fit-outs from design, then from the empty concrete box to opening day. Same as you really, just you're online while I'm bricks and mortar.

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cradle to grave "from cradle to the grave"

birth to death

concept to completion

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Cradle to grave tends to refer to the life of a thing, rather than the construction of it. For example you could perhaps talk about the 'from cradle to grave' of a house, but you'd be meaning the entire lifespan of the house until it fell down. –  dwjohnston May 21 at 23:07

Consider the idiomatic from the ground up.

from the ground up: gradually from the most elementary level to the highest level : She created her business from the ground up.

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