Our Community Partners

Our vision of baking as a community is possible because of the curious, ambitious, and inspiring people that already exist in Western MA.  Backyard Bread only started in 2018, and we are lucky to already be breaking bread with these wonderful organizations. 

Upinngil Farm

The farmers at Upinngil in the northern Connecticut Valley are doing the hard, hard work of growing local wheat, buckwheat, and rye. When I first sat down with Sorrel in her kitchen, I already knew some of the challenges to farming and selling wheat as a small, New England farm. Turns out, I only knew a few of the challenges. There are so many more. 

Yet they persist and and sell bread and sweets out of their farm store using their own grain. In Backyard Bread's Local Wheat Bread Class, we mill Upinngil's wheat berries as a class. Nothing beats that fresh milled flour! If you haven't checked out the Upinngil Farm Store, it's definitely worth the trip. Besides very affordable local, organic grains, they sell raw milk, house-made cheese, and a variety of produce and other home goods.

Check out their website: http://www.upinngil.com/index.html 

Jackson Street School

Sam, owner of Backyard Bread, was welcomed to Jackson Street School when his family moved from rural New Mexico to Western MA. He and his twin, Rebecca, couldn't have found a better place to transition.  The school they found in 4th grade continues to serve its community with love, generosity, and learning. 

Currently, Backyard Bread teaches bread with JSS's Hand's On Learning Afterschool, HOLA. The kids make play doh, bake challah, pizza, baguettes, and bagels. They are currently working on an illustrated HOLA cookbook.  

Learn more about Jackson Street school at:

 http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/jackson-street-school/

Four Star Farms

As the biggest local grain distributor in Massachusetts, Four Stars fills a crucial roll for us bakers. Besides retailing their grain and flours in co-op grocery stores in Northampton and Greenfield, they supply bakeries and brewers across Massachusetts with reliable grain grown with organic practices. It's hard to believe that they only been doing cereal grains for a decade; they've become such an important component of the local baking community. 

At Backyard Bread, we bake with Four Stars wheat on a regular basis, and feature it in our Baking with Whole Grains course. Our students can buy their flour at the co-ops, or order ahead and pick-up freshly ground flour from the farm in Northfield, MA. 

Check out their website at https://fourstarfarms.com/