Introducing the People
who Bring Local Foods
& Products to the Co-op
Tinder Hearth Bakery
In the fall of 2007, Tim Semler and Lydia Moffet—founders of Tinder Hearth bakery along with Tim’s mom, Lake Larsson—taught a course at Liberty School called “Social Design Laboratory,” which focused on “being alive in society” and engaged students in constructive ways to enact change.
Tinder Hearth is itself a laboratory for innovative, collaborative ways a business can privilege community-building and personal relationships over profit and personal gain.
From naturally-leavened dough to wood-fired bread in a handmade oven, from local and organic flour to whole grain loaves, and from communal living project to community music gatherings, all aspects of Tinder Hearth’s collective enterprise draw from an intentional lifestyle rooted in simplicity, authenticity, and community.
Cob oven sparks intentional community
Tim, a 2002 Liberty School graduate, returned to his mom’s Brooksville home after substantial travels to Mexico, Africa, Japan, and Vermont—places which attracted him, he says, because “the strong relationships that keep people together and alive are clear.”
While in Mexico, he was introduced to the cob oven—an outdoor wood-fired oven built from clay and other local materials. It was part of a Hindu ashram community that bakes and sells bread to support a simple lifestyle centered on yoga meditation.
Tim started building ovens himself—two during his travels in Vermont and two more in the fields behind Lake’s farmhouse. The Tinder Hearth oven, completed in November 2006, was built mainly out of stones from the property, local straw, and pure marine clay that had been dug up for the Four-Season Farm pond on Cape Rosier.
The only money spent on the oven went toward a few hundred fire bricks and a roof for the structure.
Tim, Lydia, and four others then formed an intentional community at Lake’s homestead, developing Tinder Hearth as a collective business to bring in enough income to pay off the oven debt and cover the group’s basic living expenses.
“We’re not building a company in the traditional sense,” says Lydia. For example, a major principle of the business has been a floating hierarchy, which requires those involved to hold equal knowledge of—and responsibility for—all aspects of the baking process.
Making bread “the old way”
When Lydia first met Tim two-and-a-half years ago, she was drawn to his idea of a spelt bread made “the old way,” using a sourdough culture instead of commercial yeast. With natural leavening, the dough undergoes a long proofing process during which fermenting agents break down the grains and release nutrients into the dough.
The fermented quality of naturally-leavened breads has been shown to be health-enriching. In her book Fresh from a Vegetarian Kitchen, acclaimed natural-foods writer Meredith McCarty notes that “It’s the fermentation…that makes eating good-quality bread an aid to the digestion of all complex carbohydrates including other grains, beans, and vegetables. It helps restore the functioning of the digestive tract, resulting in proper assimilation and elimination.”
Last year, a challenge to involving others in the bread-making craft was the skill needed to harmonize what Tim calls the “two wild horses,” namely the readiness of the dough with the heat of the wood-fired oven. This year, the group alleviated this issue by building a low-tech proofing room that slows down the fermentation process, allowing the dough to rise overnight.
In addition to being more predictable, this process further develops the texture and flavor of the bread. It also moves the baking schedule from late night to early morning; now the bakers awake at 3:00 am, which means that customers arriving early at the Blue Hill Farmers’ Market can purchase still-warm bread.
Maine Grains
Another challenge for Tinder Hearth has been the limited availability of organic grains grown and milled in Maine. The group feels a strong commitment to the idea of a community economy, including sourcing their ingredients as locally as possible.
Because grains are not currently farmed nearby in quantity, Tinder Hearth is grateful for Matt Williams of Aurora Mills, who grows much of the organic wheat, rye, spelt, and oats he mills in Houlton, Maine. “Aroostook County needs to be supported,” says Tim. Using an in-state supplier minimizes trucking and connects Tinder Hearth directly with Maine farmers.
Tinder Hearth carries several whole wheat breads—Rye, Spelt, and Maine Grains—which use ingredients that Tinder Hearth has been able to source in Maine. “One of the things I’m most happy about,” says Tim, referring to these breads, “is finding a really healthy way to make whole grain accessible to people’s palates.”
Another Tinder Hearth bread—the popular French Batard—requires organic white flour, which is not available in Maine. In keeping with their principles, the resourceful Tinder Hearth crew switched this year from a large, commercial brand out West to the closest growers and mill they could find—an artisanal flour supplier in Quebec. One added benefit of this arrangement has been the opportunity to share the shipped flour with Millbrook, another local bakery. “It’s nice to have some collaboration with another baker, rather than competition,” notes Lydia.
Community Supported Bread
Tinder Hearth's community economy vision also relies on strong relationships with customers. Faced with a big increase in wheat prices this year, Tinder Hearth has come up with an innovative way to keep its bread price reasonable while developing a closer bond with its customer base: Community Supported Bread (CSB).
Similar to the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, CSB is an agreement between members, who make payments up front for a month’s worth of bread (e.g., $20 for four loaves), and Tinder Hearth bakers, who guarantee to supply members with their requested bread for the month in weekly increments. Members pick up their bread either in Brooksville or at the Blue Hill Wine Shop. As of July, around 50 people were signed up for the CSB.
In addition to the practical benefits of the program, it is gratifying for the group to have this level of support from the community. “It feels good to see that people are dedicated to it,” says Lydia.
Outside of the CSB, Tinder Hearth bread is available at the Blue Hill Farmers’ Market and at the Co-op with a minimal mark-up to encourage emerging local producers and help make their products available. Tinder Hearth also considers bartering arrangements, particularly for needed services like carpentry and plumbing.
Valley of the Stars
Integral to the Tinder Hearth business structure are baking-free days directed toward artistic and intellectual pursuits. Much of the group creates music together as part of the band “The Living Daylight,” taking turns writing songs that are often celebratory and dance-inspiring but can also be deeply mournful. Their music doesn’t have one categorical message, says Tim, but carries the simple intention of “making connections with those who hear us.”
A special quality of music in general, Tim elaborates, is that “it provides a space where people of different backgrounds and ages can come together to listen.” Inspired by the central role that grange halls used to play as neighborhood gathering places, Lake began hosting an open mic for music and other forms of creative expression three years ago in her barn. Every Sunday at 5:00 pm, the greater community joins the Tinder Hearth group to share music, storytelling, and other talents at the Valley of the Stars open mic. A smoke-free and substance-free gathering for all ages, the open mic received a grant this year from Healthy Peninsula Project.
The interconnections among Tinder Hearth’s bread, music, and homestead efforts are crystallized in the imagery of the words the group has chosen to name itself. “Tinder,” relates Lydia, is “a nest from which fire comes”—it is associated with the broader concepts of “start,” “ignition,” “offering,” and “instigating change.” Similarly, “hearth” is both the actual “surface for bread” and, according to Tim, a symbolic, maternal force that holds all, enfolding within it the words “heart” and “earth.”
These images of nest and hearth point back to Lake, both the literal and the emblematic Tinder Hearth mother; she has wholeheartedly supported the Tinder Hearth vision from the start and has offered up the space for it to happen. Lake also envisions offering workshops and hosting more events that bring together older and younger generations. “I always wanted to have an organic farm and a kind of center for the creative expression of the community here,” she says.
Sitting at a picnic table in the yard, Lydia gazes across the landscape, taking in Lake’s farmhouse, the massive oven, the sprawling field dotted with flower and vegetable gardens, and the barn where the open mic takes place. “There are a lot of dreams here,” she smiles. For more information about Tinder Hearth Community Supported Bread (CSB) or the Valley of the Stars open mic, call 326-9266 or visit www.valleyofthestarsfarm.com.
