Birthdays, Bread & Curious Reading!

I was born today, January 28, 
43 years ago in a hospital in Findlay, Ohio, around supper time!

Turning 43 is really great & as I get older each year, I observe in myself, liking the ticking of the clock as I roll through life.
Yes, my back hurts (much of the time) & at times its hard to get up! I get tired by the time Sunday night comes around, but overall, I"m enjoying it.
Just enjoying.
It keeps getting better & things look up a lot.

This past weekend at The Wild Fern is a perfect example! 

I began my First Starter for what I hope fuels an Empire of Artisan Breads at The Wild Fern! 

Soon to be eaten & enjoyed by all of you!

I pulled off a Pant Suit for the Party on Saturday at The Wild Fern. No, there's no photo. If you were there then you witnessed. If not, then you weren't there. HA!

I'd like to Thank my Mama for taking care of me all these years! She's a good one that Linda.






And with that, it is a strong desire of mine to take care of Your Bread Needs!

Let's talk Bread, It Matters. 

Reading Suggestions: * "Bread Matters" by Andrew Whitley *      
* "Local Breads"  & "Bread Alone"  by Daniel Leader *

The Wild Fern Community Supported Bakery Idea has had some great feedback & interest & I can't thank all of you enough.

Three Important Benefits of Buying Wild Fern Bread:

1. My Bread contains NONE of the outlawed ingredients found in commercially baked breads.

2. We get to say Hello once a Week =)

3. All Wild Fern Breads are Baked with Luv, King Arthur Flours, Organic When Possible: Sugars, Honey, & Grains, Salt, Yeast, & Extra Luv.

Some curious & interesting facts about Commercial Bread I'd like to share:

* Commercially Baked Bread does not have to have every ingredient listed. 

* azodicarbonamide (ADA) is a pesticide from China that’s added to flour to speed up the bleaching process.
* The United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and most of Europe ban ADA. The FDA and World Health Organization say it’s ok.

*The FDA does not have a definition for the term : "natural"*

* The average list of ingredients in Commercial Breads has 20-25 ingredients. That's 5 TIMES MORE than what you need: flour, water, yeast, salt.

* L-cysteine is a non essential amino acid added to bread dough to speed up industrial processing. 
While some L-cysteine is directly synthesized in laboratories, most of it is extracted from a cheap and abundant natural protein source: human hair. The hair is dissolved in acid and L-cysteine is isolated through a chemical process, then packaged and shipped off to commercial bread producers.

* Much of the L-cysteine comes from China where there’s a history of poor regulation. 

* Bromide is a dough conditioner found in most flours as potassium bromate. It replaced potassium iodate starting in the 1960′s because bakers claim it yields dependable results, and it makes the dough more elastic, which can stand up to bread hooks and other commercial baking tools.

Bromate is an endocrine disruptor that competes for the same receptors in the thyroid gland as iodine. Constant ingestion of bromate in your daily bread may eventually create a thyroid hormone imbalance because iodine is needed for thyroid hormone production. It is also implicated in many cancers.

The UK banned bromate in bread in 1990. 
Canada banned bromate in bread in 1994. In 1999, the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA to prohibit the use of potassium bromate, charging that the FDA had known for years that bromate causes cancer in lab animals. 

* the term "enriched", does not mean whole grain! It means these things were added! & (mandated by the government) – Vitamin B1 (thiamin), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), folic acid, and iron.

* In the USA, products labels "organic" can contain 5% non-agricultural substances approved by the USDA. 

As I practice & study The Art & Ritual of Bread Making, I come across these notions that I feel are important to share with my friends, family & passersBy as I bake Bread & convince you to buy from me!

Peace & Luv & Happy Wild Fern Bread Buying or Baking at Home Yourself! 

This Vermont Musician

There are many people who haven't heard of Rick Redington.    

If you pick up a copy of January's Issue of Cider Magazine you'd wonder to yourself, who is that strong looking man perched upon a cane surrounded by trees? Where is he from? & why is he on the cover? Does he even look like a musician? 

Sixteen years ago as I arrived in Killington I ask myself, 

"self, would I have read the magazine?" 

Would I have been intrigued? Probably. Anyone willing to pose in a Mr. Rogers look alike sweater certainly would be interesting to say the least. 

Well, all those years ago there wasn't a Cider Magazine, & my boyfriend at the time & father of the my only child Zoe & I stumbled into a place at the time called PPeppers. Having had a grand time of fun & convincing ourselves that Vermont was going to be the first big move of all time for either of us, we partied like it was 1999 & stood outside of PPeppers & The Outback Pizza & heard a voice from inside belting out a rendition of a Jerry Garcia song, Sugaree. 

We looked at each other with much disbelief, as who could possibly be singing that song so WELL? So well infact, 

that it wasn't an option to NOT find out & at the time both of us coming off a the Grateful Dead Train after Jerry's passing, we were both quite judgy over who could actually cover The Man himself. 

That voice was Rick Redington. 

I'd like to share with the world the inspiration that blossomed in one song all those years ago from this man, Rick Redington.

Over the years as I came out to hear him play, I learned how to make a song your own & at the same time give much thanks & credit to the orginal performer.  

Playing with your heart & soul no matter what you choose to play is the fundamental key to any performance. And I don't believe I've ever heard Rick play without his heart & soul. 

IN those days Rick was playing homage to his influences. Stretching through the music of The Grateful Dead to Frank Zappa, to Django Reinhart, he was slowly introducing the World to his own Music. 

What you may not know if you've never heard of him, is that yes, his Music is quite a blessing to the World & one that ranks in the leagues of every Great Performer you've ever listened to. 

Its no lie & neither is it a fabrication or embelishment. 

I've watched this Vermont Made Musician work his ass off for the 16 years I've known him. That doesn't account for all the other years he's been on the Scene.

I've watched him give his heart in song to children in hospitals, to the homeless on holidays, to performances that raise money for theatres (The Paramount), to tributes in honor of catastrophic events, to weddings, to nightclubs, ski resorts, & Festivals. 

His songs are about Life, Love, Marriage, Children, Death, Happy times, Good times & everything in between. 

Just listen for a few beautiful minutes of his song Sweet Life & you will hear everything of which I speak. 

He's been lucky & honored to record with legends like Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady, The New Riders Of The Purple Sage's Buddy Cage & David Nelson. 

He's also shared the stage with Joe Walsh, Blue Oyster Cult, The New Riders, Rick Danko, Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule, Cake, April Wine, Mike Keneally(former F.Z. guitarist) and a host of others. Most recently Rick has opened for Hot Tuna, The Wailers, Richie Havens, & The Samples. 

He was even in a Billy Ray Cyrus movie filmed in Rutland Vermont!! Radical Jack! =) 

And so with all of this under his belt, is he a humble man? To know him, yes, you know he's quite humble, & quite amused by the music business & fame, fortune & recognition. 

Me? 

Well, I'm a lucky woman & we are together creating & building The Wild Fern & I play BASS with him & for his Music! 

His encouragement, guidance & support over these years have led me on my own path of music. 

& that my friends, is another Dream come True for me. As well, learning to play Sugaree!!!! 

We also made an album together & with our combined children singing some fun harmonies! 

If you don't have the Album yet or haven't heard of it, Well, here YOU go!!   

The Circus

This Album also features a fine Drummer, Mr. Blake Gowan (who recently was thrilled to play with Jon Popper on Blues Night;) Walter White on Insane thru the Roof Trumpet! & The New Riders!

If I were you, I'd check it out. Or better yet, come out & HEAR IT! 

So with that, 

Many congratulations for A Job so Well Done by Mr. Rick Redington, born & raised & playing his Music in the Glorious State of Vermont!

Aren't we Lucky?

Stay Tuned for Special Wild Fern Announcements for The Month Of February! 

Happy New Year!!! & An Idea that Needs Your Input!

Greeting & Salutations & Happy New Year to Everyone!

I hope that 2013 brings prosperity, love & great joy to all of us!

I would like to announce a new idea I've been thinking about as The Wild Fern heads into its 5th month. 

As many of you know, it takes quite a bit of time, effort, & money for a business of any size to sustain itself through slow periods, bad weather, economical crashes & ever constant rising of prices. 

With that in mind as I reflect over the success of opening the tiny little Wild Fern, I'm very aware of the business also needing a boost in order for it to continue & sustain itself through the winter. 

With great awareness of my hours being somewhat of a memory challenge for my customers, I offer myself as humbly as I can & hope for patience with all of you as everyone continues to understand that ultimately The Wild Fern is a one woman show without a staff & I'm giving as much as I can to the venture, but can only accommodate everyone to a certain level with my hours. 

And with that, I would like to propose the idea of The Wild Fern Bread CSB.

What does that mean?

It means, Community Supported Bakery. 

Many of you are familiar with some of the wonderful CSA's we have in this area, which is, Community Supported Agriculture. 

But what about, a Bread CSB? would you be interested in this? 

Would you be interested in committing to a monthly payment & receiving Fresh Baked Baked on a Regular Weekly Basis?

It would offer you Fresh Baked Bread & Bagels each week & thereby provide you with delicious, healthy, non chemically altered Fresh Baked Bread & would help The Wild Fern to be able to sustain itself through challenging times. 

You would be treating yourself & your family to locally baked goods baked with much Love & Care, 

You would be supporting a tiny local business, 

& You would become a part of a mindset directed towards a healthy alternative to Unfriendly Corporate Saturation.

So with that, 

Please think about what this could mean for all of us. 

I welcome any thoughts, ideas or comments on the matter & look forward to hearing from everyone. 

If you are interested & would like more information, please email me at spreadintheluv@gmail.com

I thank each & every one of you for coming to The Wild Fern, for reading the blog, offering lovely comments on Facebook & in general, just being a great audience. 

Peace & Luv & Happy New Year,

Heather Lynne & The Wild Fern