Oley Valley Organics' Mike Dietrich sparked his outdoor bake oven as early as 5 a.m. on a past Saturday morning in June, a process that would soon pleasantly provide participants of the "Back in Time" Tour of Oley, Pennsylvania, with a blasting taste from the past.
Mike, along with the help of his wife Barb and family, prepared loaves of whole wheat sourdough bread on their 1879 homestead for attendees to appropriately sample the hearty variety, one similar to that devoured years prior on the same property.
Moving onto the gorgeous estate—which the Dietrichs currently run their prosperous, certified-organic farm for asparagus, strawberries and raspberries—the couple noticed the stand-alone outbuilding aside their country home, one that once the doors were dashed open revealed an ancient brick oven.
Through historic research and practice, the current breadmaker began to understand the skill of correctly using the brick oven. Now, several times a year, he fuels a well-maintained fire inside, plopping rounds of fresh dough within the interior until they sport a crunchy and thick, powdered crust.
The past weekend bake session, sculpted around a base dough prepared from The Oley Baker, lasted well into the late morning and early afternoon, with many visitors skipping away from the perfect Pike Township property with a toasty and crusty, all-natural fresh round—which, as seen above, included carb-crazy, lucky me.
Oley Valley Organics, LLC, 516 Oysterdale Road, Oley Pennsylvania 19547
