With our first farmers market season coming to an end, the question has been asked: so what do we do all winter?
The honest answer is that not much changes for us. The markets are seasonal. The baking is not.
What the markets are for
Markets are how people meet bread. You can see the crust, ask what is in it, taste before you commit, and tell us the loaf was too sour or not sour enough. None of that happens through a screen, and we would not give it up.
But a market is a few hours, once or twice a week, in the warm half of the year. It was never going to be the whole business.
How winter works
Through the colder months, ordering moves online. You choose your loaves for the week, pick a collection day, and either come to us in Athol or — if you live close enough — we bring it to you.
It is the same bread, the same starter, the same week-by-week rhythm. Just handed over at a door instead of a folding table.
We still turn up
Off-season we take the table out for holiday markets, pop-ups and the occasional collaboration with a local shop. Those are one-offs rather than a fixed schedule, so they get announced here and by email rather than printed anywhere permanent.
If the only place you have ever bought our bread is a market stall, this is the season to try ordering ahead. The loaf is the same. You just do not have to stand in the cold for it.