Post by Sue Capella
Last spring Jere and Emilee Gettle, owners of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Bakersville Pioneer Village in Mansfield, Missouri, were wading through piles of paperwork to make their dream of a West Coast location a reality. By June, they opened the doors of their newest store, The Seed Bank, in a grand 1920’s Roman Renaissance Revival style building on the corner of a bustling thoroughfare in Petaluma, California, within a 50 mile radius of half their California mail order customers.
Inside the Petaluma Seed Bank in Petaluma, California
The towering building with its elegantly curved façade and huge, arched windows had once been the Sonoma County branch of the Bank of America. Its new currency, non hybrid, non GMO (genetically modified organisms), non treated, non patented heirloom seeds, was a welcome form of “green.” Banks all over the country were closing, and organic farming and growing your own food were becoming even more popular with the environment , health , and budget conscious consumer.
“Everyday, people come in and are tickled by the fact that it’s a seed store in a bank,” says Paul Wallace, store manager and juggler of all Baker Creek’s West Coast business connections.
Gwen Kilchherr, in house horticulturist, with a customer.
“I was surprised at how fast people in Southern California and all over found out about us and how this has become a destination place,’ adds Gwen Kilchherr, in store horticulturalist, local gardening columnist, and radio show gardening expert.
Since it opened, “Baker Creek West” has sprouted and grown into a thriving business as healthy and wholesome as the plants grown from the company’s heirloom seeds. The number of heirloom seed varieties offered for sale has grown from 1,200 to 1,400. Gardening related items for sale line the shelves and walls and include fine, hand forged gardening tools from England based Clarington Forge, vegan gardening gloves, locally crafted handmade soaps, beeswax candles, and organic herbs and spices, and a gardener friendly line of how to books on everything from seed saving and seed sowing to organic vegetable growing and pest control.
Local photographs of Northern California’s bucolic farmlands and pristine open spaces as well as garden themed artwork and handmade quilts by local artisans grace the walls.
Yet, the real icing on the cake—or vegan doughnut—is what The Seed Bank has become to the community, surrounding counties, and even the nation. It’s an old fashioned meeting place that opens its doors to other like minded people and organizations, a place where people can gather and share the message that being kind to the land and eating healthy, organically raised foods is important, perhaps more than ever before.
It was with great excitement and much pleasure that The Seed Bank, in conjunction with local, independent bookstore Copperfield’s Books, hosted a talk and book signing by Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” in January, seating over 400 people amongst the store’s racks of seed packets. The store also hosted a local screening of Kirk Bergstrom’s “Nourish: Food+Community,” an insightful half-hour PBS special that discusses what we eat and where our food comes from.
Local non profit organizations, including community based organic farm, Petaluma Bounty, have held events beneath its soaring ceilings. Sonoma County Culinary Guild even hosted a members only, sit-down dinner for fifty, complete with elegant, white tablecloths, and Petaluma’s Live Oak Charter School recently held the store’s first art show featuring students’ agricultural and garden themed artwork.
“It’s nice to have somewhere where people can come and feel at home,” says store manager Paul Wallace. And he expects the store will be holding more and more in store events and gatherings.
The Seed Bank, Bakersville Pioneer Village in Mansfield, Missouri, and the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company Web site also provide educational opportunities for gardeners at all skill levels. At The Seed Bank, there are plans for in store horticulturalist Gwen Kilchherr to give more free talks on vegetable gardening as well as composting, insect and pest control, plant care, and preserving and canning tomatoes.
When you visit The Seed Bank, Gwen is also on hand to answer your gardening questions and can provide you with vegetable planting guidelines from local master gardeners.
Informational videos featuring Gwen, Jere Gettle himself, local farmers, organic food and sundry producers, and local chefs who use organic, locally grown foods are being shot by Petaluma video producer and cameraman Daniel Carmody at the store and in area locales to connect the community with other businesses supporting organic farming and healthful eating. (Look for these videos on this Web site and on The Seed Bank and Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company Facebook pages.)
“People who were buying their starts from the nursery are now wanting to start their own seeds and get more for their money,” says Gwen. “They’re finding they can do it. They come back more and more for seeds. They see the catalog and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Paul Wallace assisting at customer at the Seed Bank
Store manager Paul Wallace says he’s assisted customers who have driven all the way from Southern California with heavily ear marked Baker Creek Seed catalogs, excited about buying their seeds in person. Another customer took orders online from a friend in Germany while pursuing the store, he adds.
For the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company’s West Coast location there continues to be a constant buzz of activity and enthusiasm around growing non GMO heirloom seeds, organic farming, and just about everything that has to do with the healthful, affordable pastime of gardening—much more than the Gettles could have ever dreamt of.
The Seed Bank is located at 199 Petaluma Boulevard North in downtown Petaluma. If you’re in the area, stop by. This charming, historic town is also home to dozens of antique shops, art galleries, fine restaurants, and visitor friendly organic farms.
Sue Capella is a Northern California home and garden writer, photographer, and artist. She can be reached at SueCapella@gmail.com
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