Our Story

In 2014, Prairie Sky Breads launched as a small stand at the Minot Farmer’s Market. In those early days, Travis Gerjets would stay up late baking the bread that he learned to make from his Nana. These loaves would be sold at market… and then a funny thing started to happen. People came back to buy more bread… and they came back with stories! Travis loved to hear of their adventures when they returned to the stand: the recipes they tried with the bread, their own stories of baking or memories of making bread with a parent or grandparent. It was lovely. And over time, a small community began to form around this bread. 

During the following 5 years, there were many more shared stories, much more bread, and a community that kept growing. A “Community Supported Bakery” formed, offering a year-round bread subscription service. Pastries were added. Different bread varieties were introduced. Travis even went out to San Francisco to learn how to bake! Things started to get serious, and conversation started turning to opening a “real” bakery and cafe. 

Enter Zach and Jazmine Schultz, two community organizers and staples in the DIY Minot music scene. If Travis was going to open a bakery, he wanted it to be more than just a place to eat. There was a dream that this would be a weird place, an artistic place, a spot for the community to gather and dream and plot and scheme… and yes, get good coffee and baked goods! But if community was going to be the focus, community organizers were what this little operation needed. Zach and Jazmine became part of the team and things were off and rolling. 

In February of 2020, Prairie Sky Breads officially opened the doors to the new community gathering space and cafe. There have been lots of shared stories, laughter, art, music and fun at PSB since then (and some tough times with COVID-19 complicating our world in March… but that is another story!). We are grateful for this community that supports us, an amazingly talented and creative staff and the chance to do what we do in this little corner of Minot.