Food-Safe. Family-Focused. Community-Driven.
Hi, I'm Ashley — the baker and founder behind Prairie Sourdough Co.
I'm a lifelong Devon resident, mom, maker, DIY-er, former café owner, and someone who has always had a bit of a "I wonder if I could make that myself?" attitude.
I've spent most of my adult life making things, building things and figuring things out. Sometimes that's meant baking. Sometimes it's been renovating something in my house, growing food in the garden, preserving what we've grown, or starting a business from an idea that wouldn't leave me alone.
Prairie Sourdough Co. is really the result of all of those things coming together.
Before There Was Bread
Before Prairie Sourdough Co., there was Little Prairie Craft Co.
Little Prairie started from my love of creating things. I designed and made my own laser-crafted products, developed my own product lines, built my website, photographed my products, managed orders and learned the ins and outs of running an online business largely by figuring it out as I went.
What started as a creative side business eventually grew into something much bigger. At its peak, Little Prairie Craft Co. had products in 30 stores across Canada and generated more than 100,000 Etsy sales.
It was a lot of work, but it taught me something I didn't fully appreciate at the time: I genuinely love building a business. I love taking an idea, figuring out how to make it real, creating the products, building the brand and watching people connect with something I've made.
But when I look back at Little Prairie, the sales numbers aren't actually the part I'm most proud of.
What I'm most proud of is that I was able to build that business without giving up my family life.
I went to every dance recital. I was at the Christmas school concerts. I made dinner for my family every night. I was able to run a growing business while still being there for the everyday things that matter when you're raising a family.
That experience shaped the way I think about business.
I learned that I don't have to choose between being an entrepreneur and being present for my family. I can have both.
Then Came the Café
I've also spent years working in food service, most recently owning and running the day-to-day of a busy coffee shop and bakery right here in Devon.
Running a commercial kitchen taught me a completely different side of the business. I learned about consistency, large scale production, customer service, efficiency and what it really takes to keep a kitchen and busy business running day after day.
And I loved the food.
I loved baking. I loved creating recipes. I loved the people and the regular customers. I loved the conversations and the feeling of creating something that people were excited to take home.
But running a busy café also taught me something else.
Bigger isn't always better.
There is a big difference between building a business that can grow and building a business that fits the life you actually want to live.
As my family has grown, I've become much more intentional about that distinction.
My kids are growing up. I don't want to miss the dance recitals, the school concerts, the family dinners or the ordinary Tuesday nights because my business needs me somewhere else.
I want to build something meaningful, but I also want to be there for the people I'm building my life around.
And that's where Prairie Sourdough Co. comes in.
Why a Microbakery?
A microbakery gives me the best of both worlds.
I get to bake. I get to create. I get to build a brand, develop recipes, work with customers and run a business of my own. I get to take everything I learned from Little Prairie Craft Co. and from running a commercial cafe and put it into something that feels completely mine.
But I can do it on a scale that works with my family.
I'm not trying to build another giant business. I'm not trying to turn my kitchen into a factory or spend seven days a week at markets and pop-ups.
I want Prairie Sourdough Co. to be intentionally small, focused and personal.
That means a limited menu, small batches and a production schedule that allows me to give my products the attention they deserve while still leaving room for the rest of my life.
I don't want my family to fit around my business. I want my business to fit around my family.
That's not a limitation.
That's the whole point.
And Yes, I Take Food Safety Seriously
My years in commercial food service also taught me that good food starts with good food safety.
I hold my AHS Food Safety Certification, and those same standards come with me into my home microbakery. Everything I make is prepared with careful attention to cleanliness, sanitation, safe food handling and consistency.
Small-batch doesn't mean cutting corners.
In fact, one of the things I love about being small is that I can be involved in every part of the process. I know what's being mixed, what's going into the oven and what's being packaged for you.
Food safety isn't something I think about after the baking is finished.
It's part of every step.
The Way I Bake
Sourdough has become one of my favourite things to work with because it brings together so many of the things I love: patience, technique, science and a little bit of experimentation. I have been sourdough-ing since 2019 with my Grandma's starter
I love figuring out what makes a loaf better. I love testing fermentation times, working with different ingredients and learning how small changes affect the final bread.
But I also don't believe sourdough has to fit one particular mold.
There is nothing wrong with the beautiful, crusty, open-crumb artisan loaves you see everywhere. I love those too.
But that's not quite what I wanted to eat every day.
I want bread that my family actually wants to eat every day. Bread that's soft enough for sandwiches, chewy enough to be satisfying, tangy enough to taste like real sourdough and big enough that you feel like you got a proper loaf of bread.
So that's what I make.
My dough is prepared over several days, giving it plenty of time to develop flavor and texture before it reaches the oven. Every loaf is mixed, fermented, shaped and baked in small batches.
Real sourdough. Soft enough for real life. Tangy enough to be authentic sourdough
A Little Bit of Devon
Devon isn't just where Prairie Sourdough Co. happens to be located.
It's my home.
I grew up here. My family lives here. My kids go to school here. I've spent years working, building businesses and making friendships here.
That's why community matters so much to me.
I want Prairie Sourdough Co. to feel like a local business in the truest sense of the word — something created here, for the people who live here.
I also want to use the website and the business to help shine a little light on other small and home-based businesses in our community. There are so many people quietly building something from their kitchens, garages, spare rooms and workshops, and I know from experience just how much work goes into making a small business work.
I've been there. I still am.
Why Prairie Sourdough Co.?
I think, after all the businesses I've built and all the different directions I've gone over the years, I've finally figured out what I want.
I want to make things.
I want to build things.
I want to work for myself.
I want to create food I'm genuinely proud to put my name on.
I want to support my community.
And I want to be home.
Prairie Sourdough Co. lets me do all of those things at once.
It's a business, but it's also a reflection of the life I'm trying to build — one where there's room for good food, creativity, family, community, a little bit of gardening, a lot of sourdough and maybe eventually a few chickens.
It doesn't need to be huge to be meaningful.
It just needs to be mine.
Thanks for Being Here
Whether you're picking up your first loaf, becoming a weekly bread person, grabbing a bag of English muffins or treating yourself to one of my ridiculously large cookies, thank you for supporting a little local business.
Every order helps support my family, but it also allows me to keep doing something I genuinely love while being present for the people who matter most to me.
So welcome to Prairie Sourdough Co.
Welcome to my kitchen.
I'm really glad you're here.
