“Where did the name come from?”
This is almost the first question I ask Dan Ferreira, the proprietor of Bedstone Baking, a regular at the Tuesday Farmers Market in Petaluma.
“When wheat is stone milled into flour, it’s ground between a pair of stones,” Ferreira explains. “The top stone turns around a central shaft. It’s called the runner stone. The lower stone is stationary and acts as a foundation. It is the bedstone.”
Ferreira began baking with his grandparents. His mother’s father crafted a cinnamon-raisin bread that was dubbed “goodie bread,” making it sound even tastier. His father’s mother baked with him as well. When Ferreira’s hands weren’t immersed in dough, they were often engaged in music.
He’s also a clarinet player.
With a degree in classical music, Ferreira was a freelance clarinetist for many years, playing with the San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley symphonies and worked as a librarian for the SF Symphony. As one would expect from someone who enjoyed baking on the side, his colleagues often benefited from his ancillary passion.
“I brought baked goods to rehearsals,” he said.
But after six years, he got tired of the commute to the city, often doing it twice daily, for rehearsal and then the performance. So, when a job became available at a favorite bake shop, M.H. Bread and Butter in San Anselmo, he applied for, and got, the position.
“I spent four or five years learning the ropes of baking and how to run a business,” he said, “before moving on to Brickmaiden Breads in Point Reyes Station.”
When COVID-19 arrived and he was sheltering at home in Novato with his two daughters, Ferreira decided to see if he could run his own baking business. He got a cottage food permit and set off down the floury path of breadmaking, crafting handmade, naturally leavened wholegrain breads.
These days, in addition to selling at Petaluma’s Tuesday Market, he’s can be found at the Wednesday Farmers Market in Corte Madera. Tenfold Farmstand on Middle Two Rock Road and the Live Oak Farm stand, off Lohrman Lane, both offer Bedstone breads.
Ferreira acknowledges that his schedule can be challenging as he remains a working musician.
“I’ll come home at 11, after an evening concert and I’ll be up until 2 to bake,” he said.
While the two professions – music and baking – may seem quite different, Ferreira says both require the same creative intuition. There’s a specific, strict framework that needs to be followed in each art form, but within it are variables. For example, when baking, the weather can play a role. Warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler air, so a baker might run into issues on hot, humid or rainy days.
“Responding to bread is like responding to an orchestra,” he said.
Asked what he enjoys about selling at farmers markets, Ferreira’s answer is quick.
“The community,” he said. “As a music librarian, I was too often down in the basement, not connected to the orchestra.”
At the market, he has the fun of interacting with people as he puts his hand-crafted loaves into customers’ hands.
“It’s like a concert,” he said. “There’s that direct relationship with the audience.”
With baking a part of his life for so many years, it’s no surprise that Ferreira sees the flour-kneading pastime as one that connects him to his family and community, and to the long tradition of millers and bakers from past generations.
“The bedstone is a foundation,” he said. “Baking is my practice.”
(Katie Watts is a longtime Petaluma writer, and former staff reporter for the Argus-Courier. You can reach her at MingleMopper@gmail.com)
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'Baking is my practice,' says musical Farmers Market vendor – Petaluma Argus Courier
