Today we’d like to introduce you to Cally Roberts.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve grown up watching how food drives so many aspects of community. Sharing meals brings people together, sharing recipes keeps cultures alive, and sharing baked goods brings comfort. Salt & Fern Bakehaus officially began just over two years ago as my passion project with sourdough shared just with my people turned more and more into, “hey, would you sell my friend a loaf?”
I’ve been learning to bake since I was a teenager, and would periodically sell things like donuts and pies at 2 am to the engineering dorm across the river during my time at the U of M Twin Cities as I studied Food Systems. There, I deepened my affection for caring about food from ensuring proper soil health feeding the roots of the plants, to using as many locally grown ingredients that will make their way into my baked goods and then onto my community’s tables.
About five years ago, I started working with wild yeast levain to produce my fermented breads. I made many flat loaves before I got my act together and figured out exactly what a bulk ferment was and how long proofing needed to take before a cold retard in the fridge would be optimal.
Two years ago, I began to sell almost weekly out of my home as a cottage foods producer. Friends encouraged me to sign up for local artist shows such as the Makers Market at the Mankato Makerspace, and occasionally make the jaunt back up to the Twin Cities to delivery bread directly to people’s homes or work places. Those adventures have allowed me to expand my operation to include a real commercial oven (so I can bake twelve loaves at once instead of just two at a time) and larger mixers to handle the growing demand for locally made sourdough breads and focaccia, as well as cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, and other tasty treats.
It is my greatest joy to be able to feed my community. To get to meet more and more of my neighbors through this endeavor, knowing the care I take with my bread is nourishing their week ahead, is an honor.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a steady path; most of my struggles have been time management related. When I was starting out baking, I was also employed as a full time landscaper. I’ve recently traded out landscaping for motherhood, which comes with its own set of challenges slinging dough while entertaining a 4 month old baby boy.
Trying to supply what was asked of me while only being able to fit two Dutch ovens to bake in at a time was slow going. 24 loaves took almost 13 hours to bake until I got my new oven than can handle that load in 2 hours. So, it’s been a matter of finding the current bottlenecks and investing in the right equipment at the right time to maximize output and save my sanity.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Salt & Fern Bakehaus?
Salt and Fern Bakehaus is a cottage foods producer in North Mankato focused on long fermented sourdough and other baked goods, using as many locally produced and locally grown ingredients as possible.
My regenerative focused backyard garden grows many of the herbs and produce used in my breads, such as dill, oregano, sage, strawberries, and the garlic for the confit I use atop my focaccia. My whole wheat flour comes from Welcome, Minnesota. Additionally, I don’t use commercial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, instead focusing on companion planting, trap crops, enticing pollinators through native flowers, mulching, and composting to supply what I need for good soil health and produce production.
I want to feed my neighbors at any level of need, whether that is through donating loaves to organizations like Food Not Bombs or to sales sponsoring building new community gardens across town.
I have pre orders open on my Bakesy until the Thursday before pick up on Saturdays, on the weekends that I don’t have markets to attend. I advertise those pick up dates and market dates on my Facebook and Instagram. Also, I can do special orders beyond what is listed on my website if you reach out!
What matters most to you? Why?
Food is a human right. With how much food waste we leave behind, we could feed every hungry person in this country if our focus was on utilizing everything we produce through salvaging and donating rather than letting the food rot in dumpsters or in orchards and farms because there’s no one to harvest it. At minimum, I wish we had systems in place to at least compost all food waste from groceries and restaurants so it can go back into the soil to feed more people.
Pricing:
- Sourdough loaves cost between $12-18 dollars depending on inclusions
- Sourdough focaccia cost ranges $14-22 depending on pan size and inclusions
- Pans of sweets range from $10-20 depending on size
- Delivery on allotted days in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs adds $5 for delivery fee and has a minimum order of $25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bakesy.shop/b/salt-fern-bakehaus
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salt.and.fern/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61565597807794
