Work Flow
When Overwhelm Became Order
I have found that journaling has led me somewhere I didn’t expect.
Planning.
What started as writing down thoughts slowly became writing down my week.
A bake schedule.
How many loaves am I bringing to market?
How many inclusion loaves?
How many English muffins?
How many Cowboy Cookies?
At one point, it all began to feel overwhelming.
And then, without even realizing it…
I created a workflow.
Wednesday: Feeding & Mise en Place
Wednesdays are for building the foundation.
I feed my starters—several of them now, in large containers, each one active and growing in my kitchen.
One in particular is fed with a blend of organic bread flour and organic rye flour. This is the starter that creates my rye loaves.
The aroma alone takes you somewhere familiar…like stepping into a New York delicatessen. Warm rye, nutty and rich, layered with the kind of depth that holds its own without being heavy. It has quietly become a market favorite.
Alongside feeding my starters, I prepare my mise en place.
Every batch is scaled in advance.
Flour and salt are weighed and set into bins.
Everything is ready for the next day.
This step alone has changed everything.
It creates efficiency.
It creates calm.
Thursday: Mixing & Bulk Fermentation
Thursdays are dough days.
The most physically demanding day of my week.
This is when all doughs are mixed:
English muffin dough.
Inclusion loaves.
Base sourdough.
Each dough is developed and then moved into bulk fermentation.
From there, it becomes a rhythm of:
stretch and folds
coil folds
monitoring fermentation
watching the dough respond
I place large notes on each bin, marking timing for every stage:
When to fold.
When to rest.
When to pre-shape and shape.
This is where instinct meets structure.
Where I read the dough…while still honoring the discipline that allows consistency.
Friday Night: Cold Retard & Bake
By Friday, the shaped loaves have gone into cold retard.
This slow fermentation develops flavor, structure, and depth.
Friday night becomes bake night.
An overnight process.
Scoring.
Loading the oven.
Steam.
Rotation.
The world is quiet.
But the work continues.
By morning, the bread is baked, cooled, and ready to be packed.
Saturday: Market Day
Sleep is minimal—two to three hours.
I wake around 4:00am to reset.
By 5:30am, the car is loaded and I’m on the road.
Setup begins at 6:00am.
Two hours to create something that matters deeply to me:
A space.
Not just a table.
A place where people feel what I’ve created.
The aesthetics are not separate from the bread.
They are an extension of it.
8:00am–12:00pm: The Exchange
Market opens at 8:00am.
And this is where everything comes together.
The bread.
The people.
The conversations.
This is no longer production.
This is connection.
The Return
At noon, it closes.
I break down the booth, pack the car, go home…
and sleep.
What I’ve Learned
This workflow didn’t come from a book.
It came from how I was raised.
From a father who believed in discipline, in showing up, in doing things the right way even when no one was watching. From long days growing up in California, from 4-H and early lessons in responsibility, in caring for something outside of myself.
It was shaped in my years as a mother—feeding my children, caring for them, learning that love often looks like preparation, consistency, and quiet sacrifice.
It was strengthened through my faith. Through sobriety. Through learning how to live one day at a time, with intention and gratitude for the life I’ve been given.
And somewhere along the way, all of that found its way here.
Into the rhythm.
Into the structure.
Into the way I move through this work.
What I’ve come to understand is this:
Structure creates freedom.
Because when the work is ordered and intentional…
It allows me to be fully present in what matters most.
The people.
Warmly~
Kathy
Art of The Crumb