Photos courtesy of Sarah Jensen Sarah Jensen was a familiar sight at the Marshall Farmer’s Market this past summer. She said her various baked products usually sold.

MARSHALL — Sarah (Bucher) Jensen said she’s been pleasantly surprised by the early success of her Little Mill Bread Co, which she launched in January, 2024.

Jensen is a Marshall native and 2018 graduate of Marshall High School. She received a degree in Human Development and Family Studies from South Dakota State and went to work for a human services agency in Marshall after graduation. “But I got burned out,” she explained.

She resigned in December 2023 “with no real plan,” she told an audience of 25 on Tuesday, who attended her sourdough bread presentation at the Adult Community Center in Marshall.

Jensen had developed an interest in sourdough bread after graduating from college, and one day, while working her part-time job at Brau Brothers, she had a co-worker ask if she would consider selling a couple of loaves of her sourdough bread.

“I hadn’t really thought of it but I said ‘sure.’

About that time I was looking on Instagram and a few things came up about other women who made and sold sourdough bread. The algorithm must have been listening to me. That turned out to be a real blessing.”

That interaction with a co-worker got her to thinking, and a month later she launched the Little Mill Bread Co. from her home at 100 South High Street, just off of East College Drive.

“I’ve been surprised by the growth,” she said.

The growth of the business coincided with her need for better equipment.

“I started out baking the bread in a Dutch oven. I could do one loaf at a time, an hour each. If I made 10 loaves, that’s 10 hours,” she said.

She purchased a special oven that can hold 15 loaves, and that’s allowed her to handle more loaves in less time. Right now, she’s on the lookout for 20-to-30-quart mixer.

“The other one is smaller and is wearing out from making bagels,” Jensen said.

Bread isn’t the only item she sells, though sourdough is part of every baked item “except chocolate chip cookies. I haven’t figured that one out yet.” She also makes cookies, muffins, scones, bread bowls, baguettes and other seasonal treats that can be ordered online, once she puts up the weekly menu on Fridays. Gift cards are also available.

The website is: www.hotplate.com/lmbreadco.

It’s a simple yet efficient system that’s in place. The menu for the next week is posted and customers can order from that. She preps everything on Tuesdays, bakes and packages on Wednesdays, and customers can pick up their individually-labeled items from her front porch area from 4-6 p.m. on Thursdays. Payment is made online.

She has three varieties of bread available each week. During the winter months, “I’ll make 50 to 60 loaves per week, and during the summer, over 100.” During the summer months, “I try to make as many Farmers Market events in Marshall as I can.”

Her husband, Abe, sets up at the market by 7:30 a.m., and their weekly fare usually sells out by 10:30 a.m. She has a dedicated customer base.

Jensen brought along a wide variety of baked items for the Adult Community Center attendees to sample, and several loves of bread and cookies that were available for sale went quickly.

Jensen insists on making her bread the healthiest available, and uses just three ingredients — organic flour, water and salt. She contrasted that with ingredients found in a loaf of sourdough bread found in a local national food chain, which has up to 10 ingredients, including yeast, a no-no in true sourdough bread.

Sourdough has a particular taste, texture and following and Jensen feels that it has “enjoyed a big boom” since COVID. “It’s an older art that has come back,” she said. “It’s a healthier option, and you can put your own spin on it. You can do anything with sourdough.”

The name of her business — Little Mill Bread Co. — refers to the mills that make the organic flour used in her product. It is also a nod to her dog Millie, a constant companion during her work in the kitchen.

She has enjoyed consistent growth in her business and knows that, if things continue as they have, she may find the need for an assistant down the line.

“It’s been fun,” she said.