Get To Know: Erica Gagne Glaze of The Pig and The Plow
It started as a farm directory. Then it evolved into an online magazine. Now, it’s one of Northern Colorado’s most popular small bakeries. Since 2017, Erica Gagne Glaze — owner of The Pig & The Plow — has graced the region with an array of homemade breads and baked goods, all crafted from scratch with locally sourced ingredients.
In June, The Pig & The Plow upgraded from a church basement to a new full-size bakery at CF&G Public Market in Timnath. Just a few steps away from a coffee bar, Erica and her assistant baker, Alex Sena, are responsible for creating some of the most heavenly aromas available to Coloradans.
Austin Lammers: Give me the backstory for The Pig & The Plow. Where did the idea come from?
Erica Gagne Glaze: Well, it didn't start as a bakery. Before moving here from the east coast, I was from a big farming community. We grew up around orchards and you-pick fields, and every few feet there were farm stands and farmers markets. When I moved here, I couldn't find any of that. So it was personal — I was trying to find my food.
I had an office job in Denver and needed a creative outlet. Someone asked if I wanted to write a farming blog for them, so I started writing Farming Fort Collins. I found farmers and interviewed them, getting an understanding of small ag in northern Colorado. Eventually, people started coming to me to find stuff. When I did research on the internet, it was rough: farmers would be out of business for years and still have their website, their phone numbers and emails were never updated. So, in 2014, I started The Pig & The Plow to create a farm and ranch directory that was accurate and curated. I started a digital magazine, talking about local food and the local food movement, recipes, what was in season, where you could have an experience on the farm, stuff like that. And then I left my job. I didn't want to go work for someone else. And I couldn't really figure out what I was going to do or how I was going to evolve the Pig & The Plow.
Then, a friend closed their bakery and put the oven up for sale. My husband was like, ‘Do you want the oven?’ And I was like, ‘It's a huge commercial oven. Of course I want it, but why?’
And he's like, ‘Why don't you start a bakery?’
I learned about cottage food, and that I could start it on the farm, and we’ve been plugging away. I got hooked up with the meat collective in Portland to start educating people on how to properly prepare and use meat. COVID put a cramp in it, but we hope to start doing more classes and more educational things with local chefs and butchers. It’s all about that. How can we continue to connect people? How can we grow our farming community to be more resilient and sustainable? And financially sustainable, with equipment, health insurance, fair wages -- all those things that are part of sustainability that we have to consider.
AL: We could probably talk about that for hours. But first, where did you find your passion for baking?
EG: My grandmother was one of those people who never had to measure anything. She would just grab stuff and throw it together. She taught me how to make dough by feel, and I just loved that connection. I had many people in my life who were chefs and pastry chefs. Cooking was such a part of the community. I've always loved that part.
AL: What's your favorite food item to make?
EG: I really have a blast making the bread. I’m always learning. When I went from one loaf of bread in my Dutch Oven to trying to bake 20, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is a huge learning curve.’ But it's always fun and bread is a huge frontier.
AL: This is probably subject to change, but what’s your favorite type of bread to eat?
EG: I can't eat bread anymore [laughs]. I am totally gluten intolerant. I miss rye bread because that was a huge east coast thing. I found a gluten-free sourdough gluten free baker in Loveland and she hooks me up so I don’t have to make it myself.
AL: At least you have that. What's your most popular food item?
EG: It's the bread. I have some sweets that definitely have their following. I make a stuffed pistachio brownie that people love. It's gluten free naturally, but no one cares. They’re awesome. I have people that are diehard for certain cookies I make. I really enjoy working with restaurants because I get to be creative. But the bread is definitely the standout.
AL: I know you use pretty much all local ingredients. Does your menu change based on the season?
EG: It's pretty seasonal. In the summer, you'll see changes a little more rapidly as fruits and vegetables and herbs come in. Going into this new kitchen, we’ll really be incorporating these local ingredients a lot more. We've transitioned to local grains and are working with the local grain chain and mill to recruit more farmers, growing certain crops themselves or with farmers to develop a more diverse selection of grain. We’re talking about getting a mill, so that would allow me to buy even more locally if I can mill it myself.
The early stages of an Apple Galette.
AL: I’m gonna circle back to the beginning of our conversation. Since you began this endeavor years ago, have you seen changes in northern Colorado food culture as a whole?
EG: Huge. Yes. When I started, there were no farm stands and just a handful of CSAs. We had the largest CSA state in the country for a long time, but it wasn't the norm — it wasn’t what we're seeing today. At the peak, the Fort Collins area had about 30. But it's hard. And it's expensive. If you don’t have water rights, water is costly. But I've watched a few farms build a great foundation and continue to do things really well. There's a bigger selection, a lot more meat, and a lot more variety happening. It's created this whole value-added culture, which a lot of people, like me, have grown around. We can take amazing products and make them into something else. Like bread!
It’s been really nice watching it. Watching things pop up, like the Poudre Valley Farm Community, where they're working to preserve farms for future generations. And creating places where multiple farms can use a huge property with more support than they would trying to strike out on their own.
AL: Much better than turning them into apartment complexes.
EG: Yeah, definitely. More restaurants are working on that, too. Gabbi Graves, with the Winter Farmers Market, started Certified Local, which certifies restaurants who say they’re farm-to-table or that they use local ingredients. I've even been called. ‘Is it true they use your stuff? How often?’ We’re seeing a lot more of that.
AL: Lastly, right now, what are the most important strides in propelling that food culture throughout the Front Range?
EG: Developing more infrastructure and support. I'm on the grain end of it, working with people to grow grains, but also having the ability to process them. Certain equipment is too expensive for small farms or small mills. Can we work more collaboratively to develop that infrastructure, distribution, and storage? Butchers need more small processing facilities. That's a huge gap.
But it’s becoming more and more cohesive. I feel like there's so much potential in places, especially in places open more often, like little bodegas that have local food. Farmers markets aren’t convenient for everybody. Either the time is bad, or the location, or it's really full in Old Town. Elsewhere, in places outside of town, delivery will be a huge thing. I think the more we can evolve with current trends, the stronger we’ll be.
Where to find products from The Pig & The Plow:
CF&G Public Market
Beaver’s Market (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday)
Me Oh My Pies (Thursday)
Garden Sweet Farm (Thurs-Sat)
Folks Farm (Wednesday)
The Fox and The Crow
Wolverine Farm
