Botanical Fermentation & Wild Sourdough

What you cover, in rotation

The group works through these in order and then begins again on fresh ground. Join at whatever stage it is on — nothing here assumes you were there for the last one, and nothing runs out — or drop in for a single session if that is all you can manage.

1. Stage 1Wild Yeast Capture & Starter Microbiology

   • Cultivating and feeding wild sourdough starters from regional heirloom flours.
   • Baker's percentages, dough hydration and gluten development.
   • Initiating your own starter jar with local wild yeasts.
   • Dough autolyse, coil folding, and fermentation scheduling.
2. Stage 2Lacto-Fermentation, Brines & Seasonal Krauts

   • Salt-brine percentages, anaerobic environments and probiotic preservation.
   • Prepping seasonal vegetables, native aromatics and wild herbs.
   • Packing custom jars of kraut, pickled roots and kimchi variations.
   • Tasting the same ferment at day 3, week 2 and month 1.
3. Stage 3Wood-Fired Hearth Baking & Sourdough Mastery

   • Boule and batard shaping, bench resting, and proofing in bannetons.
   • Decorative lame scoring and steam management in a wood-fired oven.
   • Baking your own crusty country loaf over live wood embers.
   • Evaluating crust caramelisation, aeration and acidity.
4. Stage 4Botanical Tonics, Hearth Feast & Starter Exchange

   • Wild water kefir, botanical sodas, and kombucha primary and secondary ferments.
   • Slicing the loaves with cultured butter and the month's ferments.
   • Gifting established heirloom starter cultures with custom care logs.
   • A take-home fermentation toolkit.

4 sessions in the cycle, then it begins again on new ground.