Gruver Farms Sourdough Workshop Offers Starter Kit, Hands-On Training, and Mentorship

Every seat at today's Gruver Farms sourdough workshop comes loaded: a live, active starter, a shaped loaf to bake the following day, a banneton, bench scraper, bread lame, and a glass of wine courtesy of the farm. The workshop, held Sunday, March 15 at the Gruver Farms Tasting Room at 255 Stetler Rd. in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, begins at noon and pairs hands-on instruction with a takeaway kit substantial enough to keep a new baker going long after the session ends.

The program is built around the fundamentals that trip up most beginners: starter creation and maintenance, hydration ratios, and the tactile work of shaping a loaf with enough confidence to do it again at home. Participants work through the process alongside their instructor rather than watching a demonstration from across the room. The kit they carry out includes not just the tools but a beginner-friendly sourdough ebook and a printed student guide, giving attendees both a reference for the bench and one for the screen.

Gruver Farms has run this format before. A prior session on August 3, 2025 capped attendance at 20 people, ran from noon to 2:00 PM in the same Tasting Room space, and was led by Daily Doughse of Sourdough, described in the farm's own promotional materials as "an expert at all things sourdough." The March 15 listing references an instructor named Ginny, who is described as offering continued sourdough mentorship after the workshop concludes. Whether Daily Doughse of Sourdough and Ginny are the same person has not been confirmed across sources.

That post-workshop support is worth noting for anyone who has ever brought home a starter, fed it faithfully for a week, and then watched it go sideways before the first bake. The mentorship component is framed as ongoing, not just a follow-up email, which puts this workshop closer to a short course than a one-day event.

The ticket deadline for the March 15 session was March 13, and spots were listed as limited. Ticket pricing was not published in available listings. For future sessions, the farm's event page and local listings are the fastest way to track new dates before capacity fills.