How the workshop started
Wildacre began with a ledger someone found in a Walla Walla attic, filled with a grandmother's candy recipes written in pencil between grocery lists. Two of those pages were sassafras drops and horehound lozenges. We rebuilt both from the notes, argued about the amounts for a year, and opened a two-kettle room off Orchard Loop Road in 2015.
Eleven seasons later the workshop still pulls on the same iron hook. The collection has grown to eleven flavor families, the marble slab has a permanent stain from a spilled plum batch, and the ledger is now kept in ink.
Who is at the bench
Marla Vestergaard runs the kettles and decides when a batch has reached hard-crack by the sound of the boil. Her brother Dell handles sourcing, orchard relationships, and the long work of drying root bark a full season before it can be used. A rotating crew of two cutters rolls and cuts every rope by hand.
Sourcing note: pears, plums, and cider come from four family orchards inside the valley. Sassafras root bark and horehound leaf are bought dried from a single herb grower in the Blue Mountains, and clove and cassia arrive whole so they can be cracked the morning of a cook.
Bench visits during pull hours
Visitors are welcome Tuesday through Saturday from eight until three. A visit takes about forty minutes: a tasting tray of the four current batches, a walk through the pull-and-cut sequence, and time to compare the texture readings against what is in your hand.
- Write ahead so a chair can be set by the slab and a tray prepared
- Wear closed shoes; the floor near the kettle stays hot
- Children are welcome close to a parent, well back from the marble
- Groups of more than six are scheduled after pull hours
Asking for a keepsake gift tin
The most interesting requests arrive as memories rather than orders. A tin built around a grandfather's root beer barrel, or the pink mints a grandmother kept in a crystal dish, gives the bench enough to work with. Describe the memory, the household, and the occasion, and we will name the families that fit.
Where to find us
Workshop address
1184 Orchard Loop Road
Walla Walla, Washington 99362
Second drive past the pear sheds, green door
Pull hours
Tuesday to Saturday
8:00am – 3:00pm Pacific
Closed Sunday, Monday, and the first week of January
Call during a cook
(509) 555-0143
If the kettle is mid-pull, leave a note and we will ring back after the pour
Questions we hear most
Can we watch a full cook from start to tin?
A full sequence runs nearly three days because of the overnight infusion and the resting day after the cut. Visitors see the pull, the rope, and the rolling. The infusion and the rest happen quietly on their own schedule.
Are the drops sold by weight or by tin?
Both. Loose drops are weighed on the old counter scale, and keepsake tins are packed by the family or mixed. Ask at the bench for the current ledger sheet.
Do you ship care package treats?
Tins travel well and are packed with linen and a card. Long-distance care packages are usually arranged by note so the delivery week lands where it should.
Related reading: batch and allergen notes, privacy guide, and terms of use.