On the outskirts of Westminster, a former biology teacher is selling hand-crafted sourdough bread alongside fresh flower bouquets grown on her own property. Her path to the stand runs through a former Main Street bakery.
Nasiha Ocasio taught biology and aquaculture at the New York Harbor School in New York City, an experience that deepened her commitment to environmental sustainability and growing her own food. "I wanted to grow my own food and provide healthy food options for my community," she says. The solution was, by her own admission, a bit of a leap.
"I had the crazy idea to buy a farm with my family, and we could all work it together." Her sister's family, then living in Catonsville, was on board. They looked at properties across upstate New York, Delaware, and West Virginia before the right place turned up here in Westminster. The farm, Goodness Pastures, has been in operation for eleven years. Today, it sells seasonal grass-fed whole lambs and eggs and organizes meat shares in conjunction with Shrivers Meats, while a perennial flower garden is coming along specifically for market bouquets.
Ocasio has been baking since her teens, approaching the craft the way a scientist approaches a lab: methodically, always chasing balance over sweetness. "I always found commercial desserts to be too sweet, and I was curious about the science of making the most perfectly balanced pastry," she says.
In New York, she took a fondant class with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar fame at the French Culinary Institute and spent about a year making custom wedding cakes from home. She did guest-baking stints at several bakeries around the city before deciding that elaborate fondant work wasn't where she wanted to be.
Looking for part-time work to supplement the farm's income after she settled in Westminster, Ocasio interviewed at Rare Opportunity Bakehouse on Main Street and found something that resonated with her. "I loved the atmosphere there, and I felt respected there as a baker who had some talent to offer," she says.
The late Ruth Thompson had built Rare Opportunity along a path much like the one Ocasio is walking now, starting with heirloom tomatoes at area farmers markets, adding pastries and jams on the side, and — after realizing customers wanted the baked goods most — opening a storefront at 172 E. Main St. in December 2016, as the Carroll County Times reported at the time.
Thompson, Ocasio recalls, ran a tight ship, but one built on equal opportunity. "It didn't matter to her what background you had. She gave everyone a chance to prove themselves in the kitchen." Ocasio learned commercial production methods, helped Thompson convert recipes from volume measurements to weight for greater consistency, and contributed some of her own recipes to the menu.
"It was really nice to see customers flow in and out: young families, seniors, high school athletic teams. Just everybody," Ocasio says. "Many guests came in as if they were visiting a relative's house." Thompson sourced ingredients locally, from Westminster producers such as Evermore Farm, and rebuilt the menu with the seasons, according to a 2020 Carroll News feature. Thompson made the soup herself each week and, ”she was extremely generous with donating goodies and participating in local events,” Ocasio says.
Some regulars liked to wander into the packaging room for a chat, according to Ocasio. "Ruth definitely didn't have time for an hour-long conversation with a customer, but she was always welcoming and polite no matter what." She was also, it turned out, extraordinarily private. Most of her staff didn't know she was ill until she was already in hospice. "Ruth always bore her burdens with a tremendous amount of quiet strength," Ocasio says. "She was a really special person, and she is sorely missed.”
Back on the farm full-time, Ocasio sold gourmet cookies and cinnamon rolls for a couple of years, including a year-long run supplying The Island Green, until they stopped offering weekend brunch. But sourdough required a different kind of discipline. She spent a full year practicing before opening the stand this past year.
Bixler Bread & Blooms is located at 3622 Bixler Church Road in Westminster and is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. The stand carries fresh-baked sourdough loaves alongside bouquets from the farm's growing perennial garden, plus other farm goods as the season allows.
Follow @bixlerbread on TikTok for weekend availability updates. For farm products, contact Goodness Pastures at [email protected].
Photo from Bixler Bread & Blooms TikTok.