About The Harvested Crumb: Helping You Make the Most of Your Harvest

Welcome! I’m Chris, and I’m so glad you’re here.

I’m a lifelong baker, gardener, homesteader, and mom who believes the best baked goods begin long before the oven is ever turned on.

Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around two places: the garden and the kitchen.

Every summer, our garden produced bucket loads of tomatoes. We never let them go to waste. Together, my family spent countless hours turning those tomatoes into salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, ketchup, and jars upon jars of canned tomatoes that filled our pantry shelves for the year ahead. Long before I understood the phrase “preserving the harvest,” I was living it. Those long afternoons taught me that when you’ve worked hard to grow something, you find ways to enjoy every last bit of it.

When I wasn’t helping in the garden, I was beside my mom in the kitchen. Before I even started kindergarten, I had learned basic fractions simply because I loved to bake. Half cups, quarter cups, doubling recipes, and dividing batches weren’t homework. They were just part of making cookies, cakes, pies, breads, and countless other treats for the people we loved.

Some of my favorite memories are the traditions we shared together. Every year for my birthday, while most kids looked forward to birthday cake, I asked for cherry pie instead. My mom and I would make it from scratch together, and it became one of the traditions I looked forward to most. We also spent many weekends making homemade cinnamon rolls, patiently waiting for the dough to rise before filling the kitchen with the warm aroma of cinnamon and fresh bread. Those moments taught me that baking isn’t just about the finished dessert. It’s about slowing down, creating something with your hands, and making memories with the people you love.

Today, I have the joy of sharing those same experiences with my daughter. She’s already learning to bake from scratch, help in the garden, and discover where our food comes from. Together, we’re creating the same kinds of memories I treasured growing up while learning to be thankful for the abundance our homestead provides. My hope is that these traditions will continue for generations, and that through The Harvested Crumb, I can help other families create those memories and make the most of every harvest, too.

Those early experiences shaped the way I see food today.

Fast forward a few years, and my garden is bigger than ever. Alongside it, we raise chickens and goats that provide us with an abundance of fresh eggs and milk. Every growing season brings overflowing baskets of berries, armloads of zucchini, herbs that seem to multiply overnight, and enough produce to keep my kitchen busy for months.

As wonderful as that abundance is, it also raises the same question gardeners and homesteaders have asked for generations:

“What am I going to do with all of this?”

That’s exactly why I created The Harvested Crumb.

This is where the garden meets the bakery.

Here, you’ll find bakery-worthy recipes designed specifically for gardeners, homesteaders, backyard growers, and anyone who wants to make the most of their harvest. Whether you’re searching for creative ways to bake with fresh berries, use extra zucchini, transform surplus eggs and milk into incredible desserts, or celebrate the flavors of each season, you’ll find recipes that are approachable, dependable, and made from scratch.

My passion is helping people make the most of every harvest. I believe homegrown ingredients deserve more than ordinary recipes. They deserve to become beautiful cakes for birthdays, buttery pastries for weekend mornings, rustic pies for family gatherings, cookies shared with neighbors, and desserts that celebrate the work you’ve poured into your garden.

You’ll also find practical baking tips, seasonal inspiration, and ideas that help reduce food waste while making your harvest go even further. Whether you’ve harvested a handful of strawberries from a raised bed or gathered bushels of tomatoes from a backyard garden, my hope is that you’ll leave with the confidence and inspiration to turn your homegrown ingredients into something truly special.

Most of all, I want to encourage you to embrace the imperfect. While I love bakery-worthy presentation, I’ve learned that the memories made around the table are far more important than perfectly piped frosting or flawless pie crusts. The recipes we remember most are often the ones that were shared with family, celebrated around the table, and made with ingredients that came from our own gardens.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you’ll stay awhile, bake something wonderful, and discover new ways to make the most of your harvest.

Welcome to The Harvested Crumb.

Where the Garden Meets the Oven.