Learn to Bake Diversity Bread®

Gentle days learning about the gut microbiome, spent in the School kitchen garden learning how to blend to include thirty plants in a slice of bread 

LEVEL: From beginner..

This two-day course is included for 2027 Diploma students.

You are invited to spend two relaxed, unhurried days with Dr Vanessa Kimbell and Libiana Kimbell, exploring the foundational principles of Diversity Bread®.

The Sourdough School is set within two-thirds of an acre in rural Northamptonshire. It has been designed in every way to welcome you into my home and into the living system in which I work. The garden, kitchen, library, mill and bakery are all part of the place where I live with my family. Whatever I have planted in the garden is quite likely to become part of our lunch.

These are two slow, unhurried days in which we follow Diversity Bread® from the soil to the mill, through fermentation and into the oven, and finally to the table.

Our mornings are spent in the garden, gathering herbs, flowers, seeds and botanicals. We will use what we gather to create a botanical blend, which we will mill into fresh Botanical Blend Flour®. In the afternoon, we will bake with the flour we have made.

The blend changes from season to season, and the bread changes with it. Each loaf carries the diversity of that particular moment in the garden. September may give us plums for preserves. June might bring fresh strawberries. In late summer, we may make passata from the tomatoes to spoon over pizza. You might smell soup simmering in the kitchen or see jars of pickles, vinegars and preserves being filled with whatever is abundant that morning.

No two Diversity Breads will ever be exactly the same. That is rather the point.

What you will learn

Modern bread has been reduced in almost every dimension: one grain, one commercial strain of yeast and a narrow range of fibres and plant compounds. I call this Mono Bread.

Diversity Bread® is the connection between the diversity in our Environment and to our gut health. I will teach you about our Meadow Blend and show you ways to use grains, seeds, pulses, herbs, flowers and botanicals in your bread. Some of these can be grown in your own garden; others can be bought from farmers, millers and specialist producers. I will share the practical techniques and small adjustments that make this possible in an ordinary home kitchen.

Our Diversity Bread aims for at least 18 hours of fermentation and 30 different ingredients in every slice. My doctoral research showed that this approach produced bread with nearly three times the polyphenols of wholemeal bread.

These figures come from my doctorate, my research and the studies underpinning the Baking as Lifestyle Medicine framework. Through diversity and fermentation, we can make bread with fibres and plant compounds that are rarely present in standard bread.

During the course, I will teach you:

• creating a seasonal botanical blend from what is growing and available;
• milling that blend into fresh Botanical Blend Flour®;
• mixing and developing your Diversity Bread dough;
• refreshing and caring for your sourdough starter;
• about the timings and rhythms of sourdough fermentation;
• the ways temperature, flour, hydration and microbial activity alter the rate of fermentation;
• working confidently with freshly milled flour;
• the roles of fibre, protein and gluten;
• the influence of fermentation on the nutrition and digestibility of bread;
• why plant diversity matters to the gut microbiome;
• using bread as a practical fibre-delivery system;
• bringing prebiotic and probiotic foods deliciously into everyday meals;
• eating symbiotically and sequentially to support gut health.

You will see the practical application of these principles throughout the two days. You will mill, mix, ferment and bake your own Diversity Bread, then eat warm bread from our ovens as part of lunch.

This course accompanies my new book, PROVEN, publishing in February 2027.

How the two days unfold

These are two working days, strongly influenced by the season and by what is growing in the garden. There is a sense of flow rather than a fixed classroom schedule.

Thursday

We begin at 10am with tea, coffee and introductions.

The morning is spent in the garden, harvesting, planting and gathering what we need. As we work, we will talk about soil health, botanical diversity, microbial diversity and the relationship between the garden and the gut.

Where the season allows, you will be able to take home cuttings or seeds from the garden.

I will also show you the way I prepare lunch. If there are chutneys, jams, pickles, vinegars or other preserves to be made, I will prepare and process them during the morning so that you can see the season move from the garden into the kitchen.

There will be a short break and time to explore the School’s library, which contains bread books dating back more than 500 years, alongside our collection of over 700 research papers.

After lunch, we will mill our flour, create our doughs and begin fermentation. At around 5pm, we will refresh our sourdough starters in preparation for the following day.

We finish at approximately 6pm.

Friday

Friday begins at 10am, with our breads going into the ovens.

As they bake, we will work with whatever the garden has given us. This might be a pickle, vinegar, preserve, cultured butter, marmalade or syrup.

From around 11am, we will return to the garden. You may take cuttings, gather seeds and mill a small quantity of Botanical Blend Flour® to take home.

You are invited to join us for lunch at around 1.30pm. Before you leave, you can refresh your sourdough starter again so that it is ready to travel home with you.

We finish at approximately 4pm.

Shared Bread

If you already bake, I would love you to bring one of your own loaves. We love tasting and comparing everyone’s bread. Few things are more delightful than gathering around a table and learning from the differences in one another’s loaves.

Together, we can explore fermentation, flour, technique, structure, flavour and digestibility. You will also mill, mix, ferment and bake your own Diversity Bread® during the course, developing the confidence to evaluate and refine your baking through observation, discussion, tasting and evidence-informed practice.

Lunch is part of the class

Lunch is far more than a meal at The Sourdough School. It is one of the foundations of the education. We teach through lunch.

On Thursday, we may eat flatbreads with labneh. On Friday, there may be Diversity Soup and red lentil dal. Every lunch includes a range of salads, pickles and fermented foods, built around the principle of eating 30 different plants and providing the gut microbiome with a rich diversity of fibres.

We will explore symbiotic eating, bringing prebiotic fibres and probiotic foods together within the same meal. We will also look at sequential eating and how the composition and order of a meal may influence digestion, satiety and the postprandial glucose response.

This is where the science becomes tangible. You gather the plants, prepare the food, smell it cooking, eat it together and begin to understand how these principles can become part of daily life.

What you will take home

• the Diversity Bread® loaf you have mixed, fermented and baked;
• your refreshed sourdough starter;
• a small jar of a seasonal pickle or preserve;
• something from the garden to grow at home, depending on what is available;
• a small sample of your freshly milled Botanical Blend Flour®;
• recipes and practical ideas you can use in your own kitchen;
• a deeper understanding of the relationship between bread, fermentation, fibre and the gut microbiome;
• and, I hope, new friendships and a feeling of connection.

There are only eight places on each course. This allows us to work together around the table, in the garden and in the bakery, with time for questions, conversation and the small observations that make such a difference to your bread.

Before you visit

The Sourdough School is my home as well as my place of work. My family may be here during your visit, and there are cats and dogs on the premises. The animals are not allowed inside the bakery, although the dogs may be in the garden.

If you have a severe allergy to animals, please contact us before booking so that we can discuss this with you.

Please do not arrive before 10am. I will be preparing the School and will not be ready to receive you earlier.

If you arrive with time to spare, you can wait at The Workhouse Café in Brixworth, approximately one mile away, or take a walk around the church in the village.

We often need around 15 minutes at the end of each day to wrap up conversations and help everyone gather their bread, flour, starter and preserves. Please arrange taxis for at least 15 minutes after the stated finishing time.

Directions, accommodation and transport

Directions are sent by email as soon as you book. The email may look like an ordinary receipt, although it also contains your visitor information pack. Please open it and read it carefully.

Accommodation and transport are your own responsibility. Please see Where to stay & more for local options.

Please choose your preferred dates when booking. If a course is full, join the waiting list and we will contact you if a place becomes available.

Allergies and dietary requirements

We handle gluten, dairy, nuts, seeds and a wide range of other ingredients at The Sourdough School. I cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment.

All allergies, intolerances and dietary requirements must be declared on your visitor information form. Please also tell us in person when you arrive so that everyone in the room is aware. This gives us another layer of protection against somebody accidentally offering you something unsuitable.

If you have any concerns, including allergies, intolerances or a condition affected by food, you must speak directly with me before booking. This is a condition of attendance.

Photography and filming

People sometimes take out their phones to photograph or film parts of the course, and we may occasionally record aspects of the teaching.

We ask for your consent to photography and filming. If you are uncomfortable appearing in photographs or recordings, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can respect your wishes.

Questions before booking

If you would like to speak to me before you book, please WhatsApp me on +44 (0)7813 308301. If you are new to The Sourdough School, you can also book a free 15-minute consultation. I am very happy to answer your questions and help you decide whether these two days are right for you.

Terms and Conditions

Booking and attendance are subject to the full Terms and Conditions of The Sourdough School Ltd. Please read these before booking.