By By MIKE VOSS;Contributing Editor
Cindy Jackson’s home turns into a “cottage industry” the day before a Farmers Market comes to Washington’s waterfront.
That’s because Jackson, who lives on West Second Street in the city, bakes items for her cottage industry — The Bread Basket — to sell at the Farmers Market, presented by Downtown Washington on the Waterfront on Saturdays from May through October.
Jackson, referred to as the “bread lady” by some of her regular customers, is a fixture at the Farmers Market.
That means that some Saturdays she’s home before 10 a.m. and other Saturdays she’s still at the Farmers Market at noon or later.
Jackson said there are several reasons she bakes and brings her breads and other baked goods to the Farmers Market.
Jackson said her acquisition of a wheat mill was the catalyst that caused her to become a “serious” baker. Jackson makes good use of her wheat mill.
Jackson does the bulk of the work when it comes to preparing The Bread Basket for the Farmers Market. At times, some of her five children help package the baked goods. From time to time, her daughters accompany Jackson to the Farmers Market and help her sell the baked goods.
When she learned that Downtown Washington on the Waterfront decided to bring the Farmers Market to the waterfront, Jackson saw an opportunity to help that effort by providing baked goods to the Farmers Market’s inventory.
Jackson’s cottage industry bakes and sells tomato-basil bread, whole-wheat bread, herb bread, pumpernickel bread, multigrain bread, blueberry biscuits and cinnamon rolls.
Herb bread and multigrain bread are her best sellers, Jackson said.
Bob and Bobbie Wright were among Jackson’s customers Saturday. Bob Wright, who sometimes helps man the Master Gardeners booth at the Farmers Market, viewed Jackson’s baked goods before his wife arrived to make a purchase.
Several minutes later, Bobbie Wright began checking out the items on Jackson’s display rack. She glanced at a loaf of herb bread, then at a loaf of tomato-basil bread. Bob Wright took notice of several loaves of pumpernickel.
Bobbie Wright decided to purchase of loaf of multigrain bread.
Jackson’s personal favorite from among her baked goods — at least it was her favorite on Saturday — is the tomato-basil bread.