Sourdough from Scratch: Why a Workshop Beats a YouTube Video
Most people who try to learn sourdough quit by week two. Here's why hands-in-flour beats hands-on-a-screen — and what you actually leave our Saturday workshop with.
Most people who try to learn sourdough quit by the second week. Not because the recipes are wrong — there are excellent ones, free, online — but because sourdough has a feel to it that doesn't translate. The dough wants something. It tells you when it wants it. The hard part isn't the recipe; it's learning to listen.
That's the whole reason we run the Sourdough from Scratch workshop. Five hours, hands in flour, with someone next to you who has done this hundreds of times. You leave with a starter, the bread you baked, and the muscle memory you can't get from a screen.
What you actually learn
We've taught this workshop for two seasons now. The thing every person says at the end is some version of, "I had no idea it was supposed to feel like that." A few specifics:
- What "active starter" actually looks like — not just bubbles, but the right kind of bubbles, in the right ratio of flour.
- How to read the windowpane — the gluten test that tells you whether to keep folding or stop. Most online videos skip this.
- When the bulk ferment is done — the part everyone gets wrong because the timing depends on your kitchen, not the clock.
- Scoring that opens the way you wanted it to — angle, depth, and what to do when the loaf splits in the wrong direction.
What you take home
Two things, plus the obvious bread. First, your own starter — fed with our flour and live since 2024, descended from a starter we got from a baker in Vermont (the one we call Penelope). Second, the recipe card we use ourselves, with our timing notes for different seasons. The kitchen warms up in summer; everything goes faster. We tell you how to adjust.
What it isn't
It isn't a demo. We've been to bakery classes where the instructor makes the bread and you watch. That's not what we do. You'll mix, fold, shape, and score your own loaf. You'll proof it on the wood we proof ours on. You'll bake it in our ovens. The part where you stand around feeling like a tourist is short.
It also isn't a class for someone who already bakes weekly. If you're producing decent loaves at home and just want a tweak, you'd be bored. If you've never started, started and quit, or have a starter on the counter you've stopped feeding — this is for you.
The schedule
We run Sourdough from Scratch on alternating Saturdays through the season. Capacity is eight people; we've been booking out about three weeks ahead. The workshop runs 9am to 2pm and includes lunch — the bread you baked, plus a spread from the farm shop. We send a packing list when you book. (Wear sleeves you can roll up. Bring a tea towel for the loaf.)
Book a Saturday when you're ready. If our dates don't work, custom workshops for groups of four or more are an option too. Either way, you'll leave with bread and a starter, and the hardest part will already be behind you.