Preheat oven to 180°C. Place flours, bicarbonate of soda and ½ tsp salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, pour in 400ml buttermilk and stir until combined. Add enough of the remaining 200ml buttermilk until mixture resembles thick porridge. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 2 minutes to bring dough together. Form into 2 x 20cm logs and place in 2 greased 22cm x 11cm loaf pans. Using
a small knife, make a 3cm-deep cut down the centre of each loaf and scatter with oats.
Bake for 35 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 30 minutes before serving.
*Wholemeal flour is available stone-milled (also called stone-ground) or plain. Stone-milled will give a better, denser result with this soda bread. It is available from selected supermarkets and health food shops.