You

Market baking. I’ve been doing this for almost five years. Beside mothering, this has been the best and hardest thing I’ve experienced. Diving into the deep end, not sure if goggles and nose plug would hold, lots of room for improvement, but I did it. I, however, was not and am not alone. You have been there with me from the start.

Amanda was first to listen and the one to pull that final pin, freeing me to move from only teaching to establishing my own commercial baking business. Continually, she has been encouragement, sharing ideas, sharing knowledge, the reason I generate emails using Kit. If I continue the metaphor, she had listened to me talk repeatedly about getting into the water, but she was the one who gave a gentle push.

Robin at 21 Acres brought me in as a contract baker, then offered me a pop-up location when I shifted to a Cottage Food Operation during Covid. She and the staff were stalwart supporters, giving me access to their customers, some of which still are. Robin introduced Bellevue Farmers Market Vivian to me when they needed a bread baker. Vivian took a chance that I would be able to increase production and gave me a space at BFM.

Vivian and Liz were excellent market managers: supporting, encouraging, lending hands, ideas and problem solving. My three years at Bellevue introduced me to a trove of customers, many who still pick up orders on Thursdays. I miss these faces but they have a permanent place in my heart.

During special market days, when a small troupe of vendors gathered on the 21 Acres patio, I met folks like Carol, the then Woodinville Farmers Market president. Carol, also a vendor, encouraged me to join the WFM. I spent two years-Thursday at Bellevue, Saturday at Woodinville. Carol continued to be a supporter and overall bright spot on market days, excited when she could get a loaf before sold out. When Carol had opportunity to sell at Lake Forest Park on Sundays, she took it. Monday after her first market there, I received an email from LFP Christina asking about my interest in selling at her market. Christina’s resident baker had retired so she was looking for a replacement. I was thrilled!

My first year with LFP was sporadic. I schedule my year in late December, early January. Most market applications are sent in January so all must be planned. I had scheduled time off, thinking there would be summer fun for the family. Instead, I filled those spots with Saturday dough days and Sunday markets. Christina was accommodating and supportive. I fell in love with this market. However, juggling three markets was crazy.

As a sourdough bread baker, the day before any market is dough day. Cookie dough, scone mixes, and even shortbread can be made ahead and frozen, but sourdough is demanding. Saying yes to a Sunday market meant leaving Woodinville. By this time, though, there were others ready to fill that gap and I continued my involvement as treasurer for the WFM Board.

As I became a weekly vendor at LFP, I began to meet the shoppers. LFP has shoppers-a fantastic community of folks who take their market seriously. Week by week I recognized faces, gradually learned names and got to share my love of grain and local flour with whomever stopped by. After my first full season at LFP, I decided to let Bellevue go, starting my current schedule of weekly porch pickups and a Sunday market. You, my LFP customers, are beyond. Naming only a few: Chris, Lynn, Greg, Ed, Pam & Steve, Mary & Mary, Robin, Larry, Kathleen, Nancy, Brian, Rashida, you brighten each morning, give meaning to the hard work and less than adequate sleep the night before.

When I ramped up production to sell at Bellevue, my niece Ann joined me in the kitchen. She was a new mom, so bringing baby to lay on the floor or be propped up on the over-stuffed chair while we worked was win-win. She made the pop tarts happen, mixed and portioned endless amounts of cookie dough, packed product for both Thursday and Saturday markets. She made it all doable, work days not feeling like work. We worked together weekly for 3 years. In 2025 she got a full time job managing meals at her daughter’s Montessori preschool. I thrilled for her but panicked for me. Ann also introduced me to my now chiropractor, Dr. Shea.

Dr. Shea practices chiropractic but focuses on the nervous systems, working to bring balance to the body. Whatever it all is, her adjustments made a world of difference for me. Things that felt insurmountable became doable. Clearer thought processes made doing the next thing easy. I no longer needed melatonin to fall asleep. Clarity came for letting certain things go. I stopped teaching at PCC, taking my classes home. Knowing I’d miss my co-workers, I have three who help out with packing up on market mornings.

Through all of this has been my family, Grant & Caleb. We would all go to 21 Acres on Thursday night to set up the tent for Friday. Caleb attended the Bellevue Market with me, helping to set up, supporting where needed, until Grant would meet us after work for a market dinner then tear down. Doing BFM & 21 Acres meant leaving Bellevue to set up at 21 before heading home. It was the two of them who set up Saturdays in Woodinville, then Sundays at LFP. Grant has always supported my dreams and plans, whether running my own school for homeschoolers (years ago!), teaching kids cooking classes at our home or turning our kitchen into a WSDA-approved baking space. He brings objectivity during our end-of-season recaps, wearing his managerial cap, asking me great questions. On stressful Saturday evenings when there was still work to do but I wanted sleep, Caleb would remind me “you’ve got this, Mom”, give me hug and ask how he could help. None of this venture would have happened without them.

Over all of this, my first pop up at 21 Acres was two weeks after my older sister passed away. Some would say not a great time to start a business. I would agree. Many of those first loaves were filled with grief and it showed. My little business, though, gave me a focus, one that she would have loved. It gave me a point of connection with several new customers. Having this seemingly inconsequential venue, having the conversations that ensued, were therapy. During year three, before Dr. Shea, I was able to feel the actual lifting of grief from my thought processes. Certain things became much easier, like having a hand-wash station in my booth. I’m not sure I would have had awareness but for this task I had undertaken.

As this calendar year ends and my 5-year anniversary approaches, I know I’m lucky. I have worked really hard but I am lucky all the same. I am lucky to have met you, to have worked with you, to have talked and hugged and been supported by you. To everyone who bought a loaf of bread, who felt gaga about the biscotti, who gobbled up the coffee cakes and pies-thank you! For each of you who came to my classes, who tried hard, laughed, chatted and ate-thank you! Thank you, to each of you, from the bottom of my heart.