Jon and Gina live, eat and breathe sourdough. The couple behind Crabbes Creek Woodfired single handedly supply over 1,000 loaves of specialty freshly baked bread to the New Brighton and Mullum markets each week.
Crabbes Creek Woodfired started nearly 10 years ago from very humble beginnings. Jon made his own oven from scratch, and what started as a few loaves for friends developed into stocking the local general store. Out of sheer popularity they began a stall at the markets and are now home to 15 varieties of specialty flavours from ancient grains to traditional white. ‘The most popular loaves at the moment seem to be pumpkin, olive and rosemary and the pepper sourdough,’ says Jon.
Jon and Gina are parents to three teenagers and are assiduously hands on – no-one else is involved in the bread making process. Out on their farm, the day before Mullum Markets, they work a 17 hour day, managing around 7–8 bakes to supply the markets with around 700–800 of the freshest loaves. Jon starts mixing and Gina takes over once the kids have gone to school. ‘Jon and I do the whole baking process ourselves, from the daily feeding of the leavens, to lighting of the woodfired oven the day before, to all the mixing, proving, shaping and baking.’
The couple are rightfully proud of their product, and support from locals makes the strenuous hours worthwhile. ‘The markets are so much fun,’ says Gina. ‘The stallholders, and also the customers – it’s a vibrant community and they’re all really supportive of us – we’ve been really lucky.’
And the reward for their huge week? Woodfired pizza – baked in their own handmade oven every Friday night!
