By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Silke Tyler, who operates Silke’s Old World Breads and Bakery, does more than bake delicious bread. At her home she grows her family’s produce year-round and cans it. She also makes various household goods, including cleaning products, shampoo, conditioner, lotions and soil mix. Additionally, she makes homemade fermented foods and drinks, including yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha and buys dry goods in bulk to cut down on shopping.
She rarely goes to the grocery store.
“It’s just living an easier, simpler life,” she says. “That’s the biggest thing. I like the simplicity of this life.”
Tyler belongs to a movement that the New York Times has written about and has called both “Femivorism” and “The New Domesticity.” It includes such principles as self-sufficiency, sustainability and a slower, more home-centric lifestyle. This gathering trend has been documented in such books as “Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture” by Shannon Hayes and “Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity” by Emily Matchar.
When I meet with Tyler on her rural acreage on the outskirts of Clarksville, she asks, “Are you familiar with the Clarksville Crunchy Ladies? I’ve actually learned a lot from that group.”
I am not. So I look up the closed Facebook group to find it has 1,989 vetted members, proving that Tyler is not the only one in the New Domesticity movement (learn more at www.clarksvillecrunchyladies.com). The organization describes itself as “a diverse group of women supporting each other in a journey toward healthier and more sustainable living.”
Through Clarksville Crunchy Ladies, Tyler swaps ideas and products. One she now uses regularly is a culture she got from another member for making homemade yogurt. While Tyler primarily follows a vegan diet and uses coconut milk to replenish her culture every day, it can be used with other types of milk.
Tyler also makes the soil for her garden’s raised beds, using her own compost. She gets her “recipe” from organic gardening expert Eliot Coleman, using his videos and books for inspiration.
“The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy” has taught Tyler how to make her own cleaning and beauty products. Photo by Karen Parr-Moody.
“The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy” by Valerie Ann Worwood informs Tyler about how to make her own cleaning and beauty products. She buys many of her ingredients in bulk, finding organic herbs at www.frontiercoop.com and an array of essential oils at www.bulkapothecary.com.
The German-born Tyler wasn’t always this “crunchy,” but she has long been on the path. Instead of following a corporate route, she has long made confections, like those found in her hometown near Nuremberg, at her café at 1214 College Street.
“One of the privileges of moving her to the states is being able to figure out how to live my life,” she says.
Silke’s Old World Breads and Bakery began in 2000, when her husband wanted the freedom of being his own boss. Tyler now sees that the choice to run a bakery was one that benefited from their passion.
“It’s not something you can get rich from,” she says, noting the many sacrifices of time and money involved. “But when I look back and see what we created and how we’re serving the community – when I see it from that perspective, I’m grateful that we did it.”
The business is now operating at a level that allows Tyler to stay home more and focus on her many projects. Still, her “crunchy” philosophy spills over into the bakery. There, the deli sells soft wheat berries, rye berries, cracked wheat, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and locally-sourced honey for people who want to get “crunchy” in their own homes.
“Having the business, your work is never done and there are no set times off,” Tyler says. “But it’s been fulfilling because it’s given us that opportunity to lead a more unconventional life.”
Cherry tomatoes grown by Tyler in one of her many raised beds. Photo by Karen Parr-Moody.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.