Beck’s Bakery Nourishes People and Community

Photo shows Rhonda, owner of Beck’s Bakery, in her kitchen scoring loaves of bread.

Rhonda Wiedenbeck grew up with a mom who experimented in the kitchen. “I saw her fearlessness,” she says. Like many of us back then, she also experienced her share of recipes that relied on canned cream of mushroom soup. As a result, perhaps, “I had an early fascination with eating healthier, whole grain breads, and vegetarianism while living among heavy-duty meat eaters.” Those things combined to lead a young Rhonda into baking more nutritious breads and other items. 

When she first started her business, she worked furiously every day. She baked constantly to satisfy the demands of customers, including grocery stores and restaurants. While, early on, she had thoughts of scaling to become large, she discovered that scene was not how she wanted to operate. “I found that I could build a viable business that works locally,” she said.

When Covid and its aftermath arrived, she made changes. “I evaluated what I wanted to do. I sought a way that was more manageable and fulfilling. I stopped baking for grocery stores.” (Mostly.) Now she says she has four busy days a week, with three days when she’s not so busy. There seems to be a natural rhythm to her weeks, early in the week scaling doughs, making starters and handling office work. She and her team bake on Fridays and then sell on Saturdays at the Arcata Farmers Market.

I asked her what is good and bad about hands-on baking for years. The bad, she says, is it can be hard on your body. It’s active, physical work. Her hands hurt. But it makes her pretty active on a daily basis. “I have a lot more energy and strength than many women of my, uh, vintage.” She describes the evolution in her relationship with the community as a great thing... “finding the line of where I can be sustainable financially and still have integrity. Being able to hang out long enough for the evolution to happen, to slide into the pocket that I’m meant to be: uber-local, whole grain, super-nutritious. Building the relationship with my customers.”

Her breads can be atypical for the modern marketplace. She bakes 100% whole grain rye breads, for example, which turns out to be uncommon. She described an Ammerland rye from a couple of weeks ago, a dense, sour, and very German bread. 

There are multiple ways to get your hands on Beck’s Bakery products. 

You can show up at the Arcata Farmers Market. Better, order online. You still pick up the loaves at the Farmers Market, but you’re guaranteed to get them. 

Folks can get on Beck’s Bakery’s mailing list. Rhonda sends one email a week providing the specialty bread of the week with links to the ordering page. She also announces special events like baking classes and the occasional freezer bread sale. Sign-ups are at becksbakery.com or send Rhonda an email, info@becksbakery.com, and she'll add you to the list. 

Rhonda sells crackers and granola via a shipping program, as well as in Wildberries, Eureka Natural Foods and the North Coast Co-op. Her whole grain flour will return to the bulk bins at those stores after harvest season.

Which brings us to local farmers. Rhonda says that we’re in one of those fortunate communities where we can grow really good grain. She sent wheat grown in the Larabee Valley to the California Wheat Commission, where it scored 93/100. The technician who tested the bread, who tests flours from all over the state, said “this is a really great grain.”

She is excited that, earlier this year, Silas Sarvinski and students started growing hard red wheat on 8 acres at College of the Redwood’s Shively Farms, along with an acre of rye. Lawrence Hindley will harvest it. She will also be working with some new organic wheat varietals from UC Davis, ultimately making a shortbread flight for the California Grains Conference for participants to be able to taste the differences among the varieties.

Rhonda went on to say “I don’t have enough farmers right now. I could use additional farmers or people who are interested in growing grains on their property.” Summer temperatures in the 90’s and 100’s are best for growing whole wheat, while our cooler coastal areas are best for rye. 

In the end, Beck’s Bakery is more than a place to buy bread—it is a reminder that food rooted in local grain, skilled hands, lessons from a fearless mother and lasting relationships can nourish a community.