Joanna
Doug Henwood wrote:
>[The protagonist, Eric Andrus, is married to Liza's cousin Erica
>(sic) Hurwitz.]
>
>Burlington (Vermont) Free Press - August 2, 2007
>
>Ferrisburgh bakery rises to challenge
>
>By Ashley Matthews
>Free Press Staff Writer
>
>FERRISBURGH -- Erik Andrus could've chosen a smoother ride through
>his pasture on a sunny afternoon, but there's a reason the 35-year-
>old farmer chose to harvest his wheat using Civil War-era technology.
>
>The jolting journey is just part of Andrus' dream to create European
>artisan bread that's as old-fashioned as his equipment -- a reaper-
>binder pulled by Molly and Star, his powerful Percheron horses.
>
>"To me, it feels like driving a Lamborghini 120 miles per hour on the
>freeway because it's such a rush," Andrus said of his trek through
>the field. "I feel about those horses the way many people would feel
>about a sports car."
>
>Andrus and his wife purchased the 110-acre Boundbrook Farm in 2005
>and, after preserving the land through the Vermont Land Trust, they
>launched Good Companion Bakery in April.
>
>Last week, Andrus moved closer to his goal of creating all organic,
>local bread made from his own flour when he circled the field of
>gently swaying wheat perched in a precarious seat atop the reaper-
>binder he purchased for $1,100. Andrus estimates the tool he's using
>was built in the 1940s, and he believes his is the only business in
>Vermont using such technology for commercial purposes.
>
>As the black horses lurched through the field, Andrus and a friend
>took turns in the machine's two seats, one directing the horses and
>the other using levers to adjust the reaper's blades just high enough
>to miss the low tangle of green weeds but collect the golden stalks
>of wheat.
>
>The severed stalks collapsed onto a canvas conveyor belt and fed into
>the binder, where a complex series of twirling wheels and spinning
>implements bunched it, tied it with green twine and spit the bundle
>into the field. As the horses plodded along, they powered the
>machinery, which Andrus joked is solar powered, since Molly and Star
>eat grass nourished by the sun.
>
>It's true that it would be easier for Andrus to use modern equipment
>-- a fuel-powered tractor or a combine -- but it wouldn't fit his
>business model, which is to produce local bread using as little fuel
>as possible. It would also be easier and less costly for Andrus to
>purchase pre-made flour, but Andrus doesn't measure cost in
>traditional terms.
>
>"I don't consider labor part of my cost. I consider it a benefit
>because it's a pleasure to do my work the way I do it," he said.
>"Would it be better if I did the work in five minutes and spent the
>rest of the day playing Xbox?"
>
>It took about six hours for Andrus to harvest the five-acre field,
>which he believes will produce enough flour to last his bakery 25 to
>30 weeks, assuming he makes 400 loaves a week.
>
>He still needs to thresh, winnow and mill the flour, and he hopes to
>use it in his operation this fall, which is also when Good Companion
>Bakery will launch its 25-week winter bread CSA, or community
>supported agriculture. Because the bulk of the bakery's sales are
>made at the Bristol, Hinesburg, Middlebury and Vergennes farmers'
>markets, Andrus said the CSA will guarantee customers a steady supply
>of bread throughout the year, and he also plans to begin baking pies
>and cobblers using local products.
>
>Wednesday morning, Andrus prepared bread for the Bristol Farmers'
>Market later that day. As rustic Italian ciabatta bread baked in the
>oven, Andrus formed loaves of French batard bread, and butter for
>croissants softened on the counter, in the light of the sun. Crusty
>baguettes and rolls cooled on wire shelves near the oven.
>
>"There's nothing that can duplicate real, fresh bread," Andrus said.
>"I can't get tired of it. In Europe, having fresh bread every day is
>a basic part of your quality of life, and that's how I feel about it.
>Having real, fresh bread improves people's quality of life."
>
>Andrus recently became a baker by taking classes from King Arthur
>Flour in Norwich and "trial by fire." In college, he majored in
>Arabic studies and for years before he bought Boundbrook Farm, Andrus
>worked as a restoration carpenter in St. Albans. Even with little
>training as a farmer or a baker, Andrus said his operation has
>prospered in its four months.
>
>"According to conventional agricultural economics, there's no way a
>farming operation like this can succeed," he said. "We're making
>insignificant quantities. We do so many things that we're not
>supposed to acquire any proficiency at any of them. We have almost no
>market reach, and we're using outdated technology."
>
>He built the oven, a retained-heat masonry oven in the bakery's
>kitchen, located in an old pole-barn at the farm. From one window,
>Andrus can see the home he shares with his wife and two young sons
>and a spread of green pastures. Another window displays the barn that
>houses the farm's livestock, and behind that lies the wheat field
>where Andrus recently completed his harvest.
>
>As chickens strutted through the yard outside, Andrus began bagging
>the baguettes he'd just baked using only four ingredients: organic
>bread flour, water, yeast and salt. It's all part of his goal for
>Good Companion Bakery at Boundbrook Farm to be "more than just a
>production bakery on a dirt road."
>
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