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pastries , bear claws and pain au chocolat . “ Everything else , we make on the fly – all the breads ,” Bill said . There are two unique things about the Richardsons ’ niche . “ Our niche is not prepackaged , concocted stuff – it ’ s from scratch ,” Bill said . “( And ) people trust us .” The Richardsons support vendors who do what they do – not only living on the land , but living with the land . “ Our only limiting factor is our imagination right now in our kitchen ,” Bill said . “ Shonna is taking it to the nth degree .” One of the only issues they face with the bakery is planning ahead .
“ We ’ ve learned that when you ’ re making things fresh , you don ’ t know how much quantity to make because you always have left overs ,” Bill said . “ We don ’ t like to have things on the shelf more than a day to a day and a half .”
The produce they use is grown right on their farm , and he notes
Bill and Shonna Richardson in front of their kitchen on the farm . that the key to the bakery ’ s success all goes back to that . He pointed to the tiles in the table , using it as an illustration for how everything works together . “ It ’ s all connected ,” Bill said . “ The bakery allows us to farm .”
On the farm
Out here , it ’ s peaceful . Persimmon Hill Farm sits between the eastern woodlands and the Great Plains .
If you travel 15-20 miles on either side from I-35 , the transformation would be evident – the ecology , topography and geography of the land shifts from the western dryness to the eastern wetness .
Because the land is on a hill and boasts an abundance of persimmon trees , the name was a natural fit . “ We ’ ve always wanted to have a farm ,” Bill said . Bill points out Indian paintbrush , a red pop of color spread across the field like it was drawn with the tip of a paintbrush .
This piece of 80 acres used to be covered with red cedar , but now it ’ s mostly gone because Bill has cleared them out – except for a few near the road that are used as a dust deterrent . Now it ’ s mainly
persimmon and oak out here .
They raised four kids – Jennifer , Gina , Heston and Abigail – on the land . At one time , the Richardson ’ s daughter Abigail ran a horse rescue ranch here , housing hundreds of horses .
Shonna likes watching cooking shows and baking . Bill likes being out on the tractor .
Bees swoop over fields filled with a variety of pollinators – vitex , persimmons , sumac , redbud , pumpkins , yellow sweet clover and milkweed . Some he ’ s planted , some are native .
One of Shonna ’ s passions is beekeeping . At one time , their property housed 100 beehives , producing at least 100 gallons of honey per year .
Now , their hives only produce about 25 percent of honey after the ice storm
A view from the road of the Persimmon Hill Farm kitchen .
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