Wildflower Bakery brings handmade Artisan Baking to Havelock and area. Our specialty is sourdough bread using only certified organic ingredients and European style pastries made with many organic and local ingredients.
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It all started with a taste...
In the wilderness of Western British Columbia, Canada I first tried bread baked in a wood fired oven. The region of the West Chilcotin is a very remote part of the world where Grizzly Bears far outnumber the people. Author and Artist, Chris Czajkowski calls this place home and used to run a very rustic ecotourism resort called, Nuk Tessli. Where she had crafted an outdoor wood fired oven out of a pile of stones. The construction couldn't have been simpler, an arching pile of stones with a large flat hearth stone for the floor. A blazing fire was made inside for a few hours and the residual heat from the stones was used to bake the bread.
I had the fortune of sampling some bread from this oven as an 18 year old traveller. It was like no bread I had ever tried before. The crust was dark, almost (but not quite) burnt, smoky and sweet almost reminiscent of caramel. From then on, I was hooked on good bread.
Like many 18 year olds, I felt like I could figure out how to do this myself in no time at all (ha, ha, yeah sure). Returning home to Belleville, Ontario, I decided to both try to build a wood fired oven and learn how to make sourdough bread. I failed miserably in both attempts. Though the bread I tasted in B.C. was made with yeast, sourdough fermentation was of great interest to me.
I didn't give up on sourdough bread making that easily. A good friend of mine's father made sourdough bread. He was kind enough to give me some sourdough starter along with instructions. That's where it pretty much all started.
My passion was (and still is) in Ecological Agriculture. As a young adult, I travelled around Canada and to Australia working on Organic Farms. But the bread followed me too.
My interest in Permaculture brought me to Australia in late 2003. Where I spent 6 months travelling all over the country working on 12 different farms, from semi-urban homesteads to 1000 acre sheep ranches and everything in between.
Late in my trip, I found myself in Western Australia on an Eco-Village called Rosneath Farm close to Margaret River. Which happened to be the location of Yallingup Woodfired Bread, run by a life long German-born baker, named Gurty. When I had free time, I spent most of it at the bakery as it also housed the only computer in the village with an internet connection (yes, I know this was over 20 years ago).
Gurty was kind enough to let me watch what he was doing and he even let me help him shape some loaves on occasion. The 100% rye sourdough bread he made was still to this day the best I have ever tasted.
I remember walking back from the bakery to the house where I was staying at night through the bush. Brilliant stars shone above me through the light tree cover and the scent of eucalyptus filled the air. I could hear the 'thump, thump, thump' of Kangaroos hopping around me but couldn't see them. It was both magical and a bit unnerving.
At that house where I was living on Rosneath Farm was a little test oven that Gurty built. He wanted to test out the wood of Australia's baking quality before committing to build a commercial wood fired bakery. I happily made use of that oven to bake some bread and pizza for supper one night.
Gurty was kind enough to let me watch what he was doing and he even let me help him shape some loaves on occasion. The 100% rye sourdough bread he made was still to this day the best I have ever tasted.
I remember walking back from the bakery to the house where I was staying at night through the bush. Brilliant stars shone above me through the light tree cover and the scent of eucalyptus filled the air. I could hear the 'thump, thump, thump' of Kangaroos hopping around me but couldn't see them. It was both magical and a bit unnerving.
At that house where I was living on Rosneath Farm was a little test oven that Gurty built. He wanted to test out the wood of Australia's baking quality before committing to build a commercial wood fired bakery. I happily made use of that oven to bake some bread and pizza for supper one night.
I returned to Canada with such enthusiasm for wood fired ovens, that I built a small wood fired oven on the property of my friend's Didi and Willie Curry's Farm, Hilltop Pastures. I based the design loosely off of the oven I used in Australia. Along with some advice from my Father about using concrete and mortar, an oven was built. I had no previous masonry experience and didn't really know what I was doing. But it worked. The oven baked some really nice bread, pizzas and pies. Didi and Willie are sadly no longer with us. But as far as I know, that oven is still standing and functioning.
So, I must have done an okay job.
So, I must have done an okay job.
One of the challenges of working on organic vegetable farms is the seasonal nature of the employment. I always needed to find some other work or activity for the winter months. Naturally, with my keen interest in baking, I eventually sought winter employment as a baker.
Little Stream Bakery, Glen Tay, Ontario, Canada.
Home of my first baking job. In 2004, when I started working at Little Stream Bakery, their specialty was sourdough bread made with freshly milled (on site) organic flour, baked in a wood fired oven. It was like a dream come true to find a job at Little Stream. I registered with the Ontario College of Trades as an apprentice Baker and began the working portion of my apprenticeship.
I lived in the beautiful nearby town of Perth, Ontario and commuted 6 kms each way by bicycle to work at Little Stream for about a year and a half in every kind of weather. I loved living in Perth and working at Little Stream and would have been happy to stay there longer. But Little Stream mostly made sourdough bread and puff pastries mainly with spelt flour (at that time) and there was a larger world of baking that I wanted to experience.
In April of 2006, I moved from Perth, Ontario to Kamouraska, Québec.
Home of my first baking job. In 2004, when I started working at Little Stream Bakery, their specialty was sourdough bread made with freshly milled (on site) organic flour, baked in a wood fired oven. It was like a dream come true to find a job at Little Stream. I registered with the Ontario College of Trades as an apprentice Baker and began the working portion of my apprenticeship.
I lived in the beautiful nearby town of Perth, Ontario and commuted 6 kms each way by bicycle to work at Little Stream for about a year and a half in every kind of weather. I loved living in Perth and working at Little Stream and would have been happy to stay there longer. But Little Stream mostly made sourdough bread and puff pastries mainly with spelt flour (at that time) and there was a larger world of baking that I wanted to experience.
In April of 2006, I moved from Perth, Ontario to Kamouraska, Québec.
I unfortunately don't have a great picture of the inside of Boulangerie Niemand. I took this picture at an end of season staff pizza party. I stood on the back porch of the bakery which was attached to Denise and Jochen's house across from the church in the village of Kamouraska, Québec. It sat on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Beautiful views overlooking Le Fleuve were for the bakers and not the patrons at that bakery. It was definitely the most beautiful setting I have ever worked in and also the best bakery I have ever been to (including Wildflower Bakery).
What made Niemand so special? Mainly the bread, though the pastries were pretty awesome too. The bread started with freshly coarse milled organic flour, then it was mixed for a long time at a very high hydration and fermented with a rye sourdough starter. The resulting bread was beautifully moist, not heavy nor overly light, and so flavourful. Even though, I made that bread when I worked at Niemand, I have trouble recreating it. The Whole Wheaty Seedy Bread at Wildflower is an homage to the Pain Multi-Grains at Niemand.
The Kamouraska region of Québec is like paradise in the summer. Rose de l'Eglantier bloom near the shores of the St. Lawrence filling the air with a mix of their sweet perfume and the lightly salted sea breeze. The little 'montagnes' that dot the landscape like stony ice cream scoops amongst the fields of wheat are covered with wild blueberries. If that weren't enough, hikers were also greeted with breathtaking views of the Charlevoix Mountains to the north across the St. Lawrence.
I would have stayed at Boulangerie Niemand longer than 4 months, but being in a tourist region they were only open from late April until October. Running with a fairly small staff outside of the summer season. I thought I was prepared for this eventuality. My plan when I left Little Stream, was that I would do some of the in class part of my apprenticeship at Algonquin College in Ottawa in the fall. However, that plan was thwarted when Algonquin decided they would no longer offer the in class part of the baker apprenticeship. Leaving my only options as George Brown in Toronto or Niagara College in Welland. Both good schools, but I had very little interest in living in either of those cities.
Not really sure of my next move and getting laid off for the season from Niemand at the end of August, I decided to move in with a friend in Montreal who had a free room in her apartment. I tried to find work at Le Fromentier and some other of my favourite bakeries in Montreal but none were hiring. I ended up as an assistant baker at the Premiere Moisson in the Atwater Market.
It was relatively close to my house, which was handy, but my least favourite baking job. The schedule was very inconsistent week to week and the pace very busy. I only lasted two months working there. But I did learn a lot and am grateful for that. They made some nice bread at that bakery on a very large scale.
Now even more lost, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue working as a baker. Gardening and agriculture was my true passion. I didn't like living in a big city, so I left Montreal and ended up working back at Little Stream for a few months.
Little Stream was one of the rare bakeries where bakers worked a regular schedule during the day. Then the packing people working late into the night getting orders ready for delivery and the delivery drivers left 'dark and early' as I liked to call it. Whereas, most retail bakeries, bakers start dark and early. At Niemand, I started at 2am in the busy summer season.
Refreshed from time back in Perth, I had my sights set west. I had long planned to head back to the Chilcotin for Chris Czajkowski's 60th birthday party in August of 2007. It seems this story is about to return to where it started from. Or is it?
Before Nuk Tessli, I wanted to some visit some friends in other parts of British Columbia. Then, on a bit of a whim, I contacted a friend from Perth who was living in Dawson City, Yukon about visiting. She invited me to come in time for the Dawson City Music Festival in late July. I decided that timing would work perfectly to visit the Yukon, then get back down to the Chilcotin in time for Chris' birthday. So, I hitch hiked to Whitehorse from Vancouver in 2 days. Which is no small feat. I could have afforded the bus. But I had already done a bit of hitch hiking in Canada and Australia and much preferred it over travel by bus.
What made Niemand so special? Mainly the bread, though the pastries were pretty awesome too. The bread started with freshly coarse milled organic flour, then it was mixed for a long time at a very high hydration and fermented with a rye sourdough starter. The resulting bread was beautifully moist, not heavy nor overly light, and so flavourful. Even though, I made that bread when I worked at Niemand, I have trouble recreating it. The Whole Wheaty Seedy Bread at Wildflower is an homage to the Pain Multi-Grains at Niemand.
The Kamouraska region of Québec is like paradise in the summer. Rose de l'Eglantier bloom near the shores of the St. Lawrence filling the air with a mix of their sweet perfume and the lightly salted sea breeze. The little 'montagnes' that dot the landscape like stony ice cream scoops amongst the fields of wheat are covered with wild blueberries. If that weren't enough, hikers were also greeted with breathtaking views of the Charlevoix Mountains to the north across the St. Lawrence.
I would have stayed at Boulangerie Niemand longer than 4 months, but being in a tourist region they were only open from late April until October. Running with a fairly small staff outside of the summer season. I thought I was prepared for this eventuality. My plan when I left Little Stream, was that I would do some of the in class part of my apprenticeship at Algonquin College in Ottawa in the fall. However, that plan was thwarted when Algonquin decided they would no longer offer the in class part of the baker apprenticeship. Leaving my only options as George Brown in Toronto or Niagara College in Welland. Both good schools, but I had very little interest in living in either of those cities.
Not really sure of my next move and getting laid off for the season from Niemand at the end of August, I decided to move in with a friend in Montreal who had a free room in her apartment. I tried to find work at Le Fromentier and some other of my favourite bakeries in Montreal but none were hiring. I ended up as an assistant baker at the Premiere Moisson in the Atwater Market.
It was relatively close to my house, which was handy, but my least favourite baking job. The schedule was very inconsistent week to week and the pace very busy. I only lasted two months working there. But I did learn a lot and am grateful for that. They made some nice bread at that bakery on a very large scale.
Now even more lost, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue working as a baker. Gardening and agriculture was my true passion. I didn't like living in a big city, so I left Montreal and ended up working back at Little Stream for a few months.
Little Stream was one of the rare bakeries where bakers worked a regular schedule during the day. Then the packing people working late into the night getting orders ready for delivery and the delivery drivers left 'dark and early' as I liked to call it. Whereas, most retail bakeries, bakers start dark and early. At Niemand, I started at 2am in the busy summer season.
Refreshed from time back in Perth, I had my sights set west. I had long planned to head back to the Chilcotin for Chris Czajkowski's 60th birthday party in August of 2007. It seems this story is about to return to where it started from. Or is it?
Before Nuk Tessli, I wanted to some visit some friends in other parts of British Columbia. Then, on a bit of a whim, I contacted a friend from Perth who was living in Dawson City, Yukon about visiting. She invited me to come in time for the Dawson City Music Festival in late July. I decided that timing would work perfectly to visit the Yukon, then get back down to the Chilcotin in time for Chris' birthday. So, I hitch hiked to Whitehorse from Vancouver in 2 days. Which is no small feat. I could have afforded the bus. But I had already done a bit of hitch hiking in Canada and Australia and much preferred it over travel by bus.
I had heard of Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse from a friend who worked there. As well, the owner of Little Stream, Graham and Suat, the owner of Alpine were acquaintances. I contacted Suat, with hopes to check out his bakery while passing through Whitehorse. He was more than happy to show me around and even let me stay there for free in the studio above the bakery. While visiting, he tried to offer me a job for the summer. I declined, as that would have interfered with my travel plans and headed to Dawson City.
To Be Continued....