About us

THE BAKER FAMILY

our family

Rhyg a Rhosod (Rye and Roses) is a family bakery in Penegoes near Machynlleth, not far from the home of Jane, Tom, and Reuben Baker. At home we are developing a micro-homesteading approach to life within our home, garden, and an additional allotment plot on surrounding farmland. We make and grow food from scratch, ferment and preserve, and of course bake delicious sourdough bread and pastries for sale, and teach you how to make them.

We grow some of our own ingredients on a small scale for bread, pastries and events, including wheat, fruit, herbs and vegetables. This includes working with local farmers, growers, and neighbours near Machynlleth to trial growing wheat in the Dyfi Valley.

Rhyg a Rhosod (Rye and Roses) brings together Jane and Tom’s collective skills and passions. Formerly a Nutritionist, Tom loves baking sourdough bread, food foraging, fermenting and cooking. Jane has a keen interest in growing food, and more than 15 years experience working in communications in the charity sector for environmental, education, food growing and arts organisations.

OUr name

Rhyg a Rhosod (Rye and Roses) is based in Penegoes near Machynlleth. It is an area of mid Wales where working grain mills once stood, timber was bountiful, and ‘Rye’ may have once grown. The name Rye and Roses not only refers to local farming history but also echoes the phrase ‘Bread and Roses’ coined by suffragette Helen Todd in America in 1910. The right to more in life: dignity, respect and the opportunity to flourish (roses), as well as the basic things in life (bread).

OUR JOURNEY

In 2009 we began a community supported bakery from our then home in south Birmingham. Tom baked bread for our neighbours once a week using a wood-fired oven in the garden and taught forgotten food skills from our tiny kitchen. In 2012, as demand outgrew our house we opened Loaf Community Bakery and Cookery School on Stirchley high street in Birmingham, with help from our local community, bread-bonds and dedicated supporters. Today Loaf is a thriving workers co-operative with an international reputation.

Jane’s interest in the environment and sustainable horticulture began to grow, inspired by family, community, and the organisations she was working for (Oxfam, Northfield Ecocentre, Garden Organic).

In April 2017 when Reuben was a year old we began a family sabbatical to gather ideas for a new business and to find a new home. We spent seven months visiting permaculture, food and food growing organisations and eco-villages in Continental Europe, Wales, England, and Ireland.

In April 2018 we found our new home and settled in Machynlleth, a place full of like-minded people, and farming knowledge where we can share our collective ideas and skills in a vibrant, creative community.

A bit of family history

In Canada in 1870 Tom’s Great, Great, Great Grandfather, Joseph Baker patented the hand flour scoop and sifter originally created for his wife. This was the beginning of what became Baker Perkins, an international engineering company producing baking ovens, mixers, and other machinery for the baking industry.

Growing our Team

In 2020 we welcomed Sam Wren Lewis to our Rye and Roses Team. Sam spends most of his time writing about the science of happiness, but what makes him most happy is growing heritage wheat and baking sourdough bread (and eating it!). He’s interested in a ‘seed-to-loaf’ approach to bread making - how bread can connect people with both the natural world and each other.