Wild Rooster Bakery

A recent high school graduate starts her own business.

This piece first appeared in The Vermont Standard.

Rachel Johnson has always been known around Woodstock because she’s a Johnson. And that’s okay with her, she loves being a member of the family that she calls “huge.” Growing up with ten brothers and two sisters meant that there always was, and still is, something brewing at home. It’s a lot of fun, and besides, she jokes, if she’s temporarily vexed with one sibling, there is always another one around to be friend or confidant or advisor. Now, though, Johnson feels ready to make her own distinctive mark, and she’s doing it through baking and cooking.

That’s why she started a business, Wild Rooster Bakery. Every week, her booth at the Mount Tom Farmer’s Market is laden with the products of a day devoted to chopping, grating, stirring, baking, and icing, beginning in the early morning and continuing into the late afternoon. Johnson waits until Friday to do most of her preparation for the Saturday morning market because, she says, “it has to be the freshest food.” Most Saturdays, her checked-cloth covered table holds white and whole wheat breads, carrot and banana muffins, blueberry breakfast cake and crisp, and an array of cookies and cupcakes. Three varieties of homemade bagels have become a big sellers; Johnson prepares them by raising and shaping dough, which she poaches then bakes. Her on-its-way-to-famous honey butter is, she says, a great accompaniment. But her product line is not limited to baked goods. Johnson also offers salads at the farmer’s market, including pasta and potato salads; as the weather turns a bit cooler she’ll be adding soups. And her catering business can provide a range of entrees.

Although she just turned eighteen, Johnson is a young woman with a dream, and Wild Rooster Bakery is part of her plan to achieve it.

Although her father teases that she inherited a baking “gene” from his side of the family, and her mother’s always been an adept cook, Johnson has demonstrated that she knows her success depends on her own proper training and hard work. As a sophomore at Woodstock Union High School, she committed to the Culinary Arts program at the Hartford Area Career and Technical Center. That meant that during her junior and senior years she had to juggle the normal demands of high school with the two plus hour a day requirement at what she affectionately calls the “Vo Tech.”

The American Culinary Federation (ACF) has accredited the program at the Hartford Vo Tech which, according to the ACF website, is one of only two secondary school programs in Vermont to hold the credential. The sixteen or so students in each class rotate through all the “front of the house” and “back of the house” jobs at the Getaway, the school’s lunchtime, sit-down restaurant. Although the course was demanding, Johnson loved it. Working in the bakeshop was her favorite job, but she found fun in every assignment, from chopping vegetables to sautéing chicken to manning the fry-o-lator to expediting orders. She credits enthusiastic and genial instructor Aron Tomlinson with teaching her much, and helping her confirm that the culinary profession is the right one for her.

As graduation approached, Johnson decided to take the leap of venturing out on her own. She barely had time to collect her own diploma with all the cooking and baking required for graduation parties. Through the summer, she’s steadily attracted customers at the Mount Tom Farmer’s Market. Word of mouth is a considerable force as well. With her sizeable extended family, “once one person hears, the rest of the family knows” almost instantly, she says. Now that she’s experienced a bit of success, Johnson is dreaming of (and saving for) her own refrigerators and a baker’s oven. Down the road, she’s aiming to open her own café.

Wild Rooster Bakery is the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Challenge featured vendor at Woodstock’s Market on the Green for Wednesday, September 22. Rachel Johnson will be making a soup, and passing out samples of her bread, at 4 and 5:15 PM. The HEAL Challenge, a program to engage residents in the many opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity in the Woodstock area, will continue through October 6. To get involved, pick up a brochure at the Market on the Green or visit ocpvt.org.