Besides enjoying music on several stages throughout the entire two days, the National Folk Music Contest proved to be quite popular. More single and group acts entered the contest than ever before, creating a 2-hour contest of amateur music. Sydni Guinn won $600 when she was voted the best act of the contest. Second place prize of $200 went to Allison Ann Green.

The old-fashioned costume contest was a hit with the audience both days. Sunday’s first place winners were Essence of Joy and Ezekiel Pierce of Mansfield, MO. Melissa Niednagel of Nottinghill, MO, won second place. Monday’s costume winners were Katurah Richardson of Mountain Grove, MO, who placed first, and Laura Richardson, also of Mountain Grove, who placed second. All winners received monetary prizes.

Baker Creek staff added a children’s area that was a big hit with kids this year. Featuring an art wall, huge sand pile filled with treasures, along with many fun games and activities for kids of all ages, the area was always busy with kids waiting to take their turn to participate in the potato sack races, bean bag toss, and much more. Some of the area schools took advantage of Baker Creek’s invitation to bring their students on Monday to participate in the free fun for students.

Nationally and internationally known speakers drew large crowds to their informational presentations in the speaker barn. Many of them are well-known authors who also held book signings after their presentations. Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology, drew a full house on Sunday as he talked about the impact that genetically modified foods have on our health. Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of the Washington DC based Food and Water Watch, had an engaged audience for her presentation about the “False Promise of Genetic Engineering.” Culinary historian and author William Woys Weaver informed his audience about how the heirloom movement got started and the nutritional implications of heirloom foods raised organically. Doug Oster, newspaper columnist for Pittsburgh, PA, Gazette spoke both days: how to get the biggest and tastiest tomatoes, and succession planting, respectively. Dave Murphy, founder of FOOD DEMOCRACY NOW, continued to promote pure food. Authors Jimmy Williams and Susan Heeger informed and entertained the audience with their presentation about the “Magic and Pleasure of Growing Food.” Illinois farmer Mac Condill’s “Tips & Stories from The Great Pumpkin Patch” was also a crowd pleaser. Missourians in the audience appreciated Charlie Hopper’s information about Missouri’s food economy.

More visitors than ever before also took advantage of the Gettles’ offer to pitch a tent or park a camper for the festivities. Some folks commented that it was a good way to beat the high price of gas by not having to drive long distances for a hotel room and allowed them the opportunity to attend both days of the festival.

The Asian-themed restaurant at Bakersville always had a line of folks, often extending out the door and across the graveled lot, waiting to be served. It is a rare restaurant where people pay by donation rather than having assigned menu prices. Diners were treated to great music on the piano and and banjo. In addition, KSPR-TV chef Lynda Roy lectured there about here raw food journey and the health benefits of eating a fresh diet with plant-based foods.

The annual Spring Planting Festival is the only two-day festival scheduled at Baker Creek this year, but we do host Heritage Festivals the first Sunday of each month through October. Anyone wishing more information may log on to www.rareseeds.com or call call 417-924-3031.

This is your chance to browse more than 100 vendor booths from all across Missouri and several other states, as well. Visitors will enjoy strolling through the many graveled paths lined with huge vendor tents and booths where they will find an abundance of plant starts of everything from vegetables, to flowers, to succulents, to herbs, to fruit trees and bushes. Visitors with no space to garden will still enjoy browsing the vendor booths for all different kinds of wood crafts, food crafts, needle crafts, survival and sustainable living ideas, metal crafts, and many more.

READ MORE HERE: http://rareseeds.com/spring-planting-festival

New this year will be our ongoing children’s activities throughout the two days. We will have a large children’s area in which we will have activities such as potato sack race, obstacle course, treasure/scavenger hunt, sing-alongs, seed starting, making pine cone bird feeders, and a whole lot more. Best of all: there is no admission charge for kids 16 and under. We do ask that parents accompany their children to these activities.

People who relish in old-time music will want to experience the western, folk, country, gospel, Irish, bluegrass and Americana tunes scattered throughout the grounds. In addition to performances on our four stages, there will be single, family, and group performers entertaining in other venues. Diners in the restaurant may enjoy piano music with their meal while browsers in the mercantile listen to a folk quartet while visitors to the flour mill enjoy gospel with an hint of Irish flavor. Old-fashioned musicians, both solo acts and groups, travel from many states to compete in the Folk Music Contest. Instrumental and vocal acts alike have fun vying for prizes while entertaining the masses.

Our speaker line up is filled with nationally and internationally known presenters: Mac Condill, Art Davidson, Wenonah Hauter, Susan Heeger and Jimmy Williams, Charlie Hopper, Doug Oster, Dave Murphy, Jeffrey Smith, and William Woys. Come and hear what the experts have to say about GMO’s, succession planting, the heirloom movement, and much more.

Come on out: Bakersville Pioneer Village, 2278 Baker Creek Road, Mansfield, MO

Admission: $5 per adult per day Children 16 and under admitted free

www.rareseeds.com 417-924-3031

Plans are in full swing to make this year’s Spring Planting Festival better than ever at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company’s Bakersville Pioneer Village near Mansfield, Missouri, on May 6 and 7.

Visitors will enjoy strolling through the many graveled paths lined with huge vendor tents and booths where they will find an abundance of plant starts of everything from vegetables, to flowers, to succulents, to herbs, to fruit trees and bushes. Visitors with no space to garden will still enjoy browsing the vendor booths for all different kinds of wood crafts, food crafts, needle crafts, survival and sustainable living ideas, metal crafts, and many more.

Our speaker line up is filled with nationally and internationally known presenters: Jeffrey Smith is an international best-selling author, founder of Institute for Responsible Technology, and one of America’s leading experts on the subject of genetically modified foods.

Our speaker line up is filled with nationally and internationally known presenters:

Jeffrey Smith is an international best-selling author, founder of Institute for Responsible Technology, and one of America’s leading experts on the subject of genetically modified foods.

Doug Oster is host of the Organic Gardener radio show, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s garden writer, and author of several garden books.

Jimmy Williams is an urban farmer and co-author of the the critically acclaimed From Seed to Skillet, a guide to planting a backyard garden. He has an extraordinary wealth of knowledge when it come to growing edible gardens without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

Susan Heeger is co-author From Seed to Skillet and a long-time magazine and newspaper feature writer with a specialty in garden, design, home, lifestyle, and food stories.

William Woys Weaver is a well-known heirloom gardener, author of respectable collection of cookbooks and food industry books, and contributing editor to Mother Earth News.

Dave Murphy is founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now!, a grassroots movement of more than 250,000 American Farmers and citizens.

Mac Condill is a famed cucurbit farmer, homesteader, and seed developer from Arthur, IL.

Charlie Hopper is a Marketing Specialist for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, spent seven years in Appalachia working in rural development and sustainable land use where he had an organic vegetable operation on the side, and now works directly with farmers and community groups preaching the gospel of local food.

New this year will be our ongoing children’s activities throughout the two days. We will have a large children’s area in which we will have activities such as potato sack race, obstacle course, treasure/scavenger hunt, sing-alongs, seed starting, making pine cone bird feeders, and a whole lot more. Best of all: there is no admission charge for kids 16 and under. We do ask that parents accompany their children to these activities.

People who relish in old-time music will want to experience the western, folk, country, gospel, Irish, bluegrass and Americana tunes scattered throughout the grounds. In addition to performances on our four stages, there will be single, family, and group performers entertaining in other venues. Diners in the restaurant may enjoy piano music with their meal while browsers in the mercantile listen to a folk quartet while visitors to the flour mill enjoy gospel with an hint of Irish flavor. Old-fashioned musicians, both solo acts and groups, travel from many states to compete in the Folk Music Contest. Instrumental and vocal acts alike have fun vying for prizes while entertaining the masses.

Aside from scheduled activities, people who live the pure and natural life of gardening enjoy sharing ideas and swapping stories. Many take advantage of the Gettles’ offer to pitch a tent or park a camper in designated areas for the duration of the festival. Those folks then can be found enjoying the after-festival time to meet and exchange seeds, advice, and anecdotes.

Join thousands of visitors from farms, small towns, and large cities across the United Stages at the 2012 Spring Planting Festival, America’s largest heirloom planting event.

The festival is held our our village and farm. Simply take Highway 5 north from Mansfield for 1.5 miles and follow signs. Food is available at the festival from our Bakersville restaurant and a variety of vendors. Admission for adults is $5 per person, per day. Children 16 and under are free. All pets over 20 lbs must be pre-approved. No weapons are allowed. Vendors are welcome (call 417-924-8917 for info).

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Visit us online at www.rareseeds.com or email us at seeds@rareseeds.com.

Baker Creek gets a thank you

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company is pleased to be teamed up with Asma Eschen in her effort to assist the people of Afghanistan. Asma is co-founder of Bare Root Trees Project and led the 2011 delegation in conjunction with First Presbyterian Church of Anselmo, California. Their mission was to plant and distribute heirloom seeds donated by Baker Creek and to plant trees in areas near the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Distributing Baker Creek Seeds

Asma wrote that while the sights, sounds and smells of Kabul and neighboring communities and country side were foreign to her senses, there was nothing foreign about the truly warm welcome they received from the Afghan people as demonstrated by their smiles, their eagerness to communicate, their gracious acceptance of the mission and their genuine sense of humor.

Asma and her delegation helped to plant the trees because the holes had already been dug by the people who were to receive them. The seeds, however, were give to those industrious people who expressed delight at receiving them. Asma is certain the seeds will be planted and nurtured.

Ms. Allen planting trees with the boys of Alice Khan community…Spring 2012.

The delegation enjoyed the food which they described as a treat to their taste buds: meat, vegetables, fruit, rice and bread (nan) but made delicious with spices the Afghans know how to use. It was a blessing for them to experience a part of a country, a city, and a people that seem so different at first glance but prove to be more alike than not.

It was Asma’s second time to visit Shark-E-Naween community. The community people welcomed the delegation and showed them how well the apricot, mulberry, and pine trees were growing. The seeds that had been given the past three years were growing and producing fruit and vegetables, and the people had learned to save seeds to plant in following years.

Each community always welcomed the delegation with a hot lunch with such fare as lamb/vegetable soup, Afghans Palue (rice dish), green onions, radishes, mint and peppers from their gardens.

Lunch with Council members of Parwine community of Refugees.

In 2011, the Bare Root Trees Project had installed a generator for the community water pump, distributed bout 5,000 trees and over 500 packages of seeds. This year they are taking over 2,700 packages of seeds donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, church members, and Asma’s students. Asma points out that it is amazing to witness the changes that these trees and seeds have brought to the communities, and how much Kabul also has changed. She states, “I can honestly say that the country has finally found its rhythm and people are much happier and there are more colors everywhere than before. Including that young women wearing colorful scarves and clothing, not just blue ‘Chadarie.’”

Jere and Emilee Gettle work extensively to supply free seeds to many of the world’s poorest countries, as well as here at home in school gardens and other educational projects. Projects such as Asma Eschen’s help to fulfill the Gettles’ goal to educate everyone about a better, safer food supply and fight gene-altered Frankenfood.

For more information on the Bare Root Trees Project visit http://www.afghans4tomorrow.org/

I have been enjoying the benefits of hardy lettuce all winter and still find myself astounded by the huge haul of greens I harvested for dinner on New Years Day 2012. Global warming may have a silver lining for those of us want to eat from our gardens all year around, but this should also remind us that we may soon need to revise what we mean by “winter” greens. One of the hardy winter lettuce varieties that has always done well for me, even under the snow, is Cracoviensis, which you can find in the Baker Creek catalog here.

This is actually a medieval lettuce that turns quite bronzy when grown in cold weather. The cold stunts its growth, so it stays close to the ground until spring rather than shooting up the way it does in warm weather. It was originally grown as a stem lettuce like Celtuce since its succulent stems could be cooked like asparagus, although without the asparagus flavor.

Mennonite horticulturist Jacob B. Garber (1800-1886), who lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, reported in 1855 that he had been growing this lettuce for a number of years and that his wife cooked it just like asparagus. Garber had gotten his seeds from a man with missionary connections in China and was thus growing it under the vague Chinese name hoo sung. This only goes to show that Cracoviensis probably originated in China, but moved west during the Middle Ages. By the 1350s it was growing in the royal gardens of king Casimir the Great of Poland, hence its name Cracoviensis in reference to Krakow where the royal castle was located. The castle is still there even though the royal gardens have long since disappeared. Just the same, we are left with a puzzle: how did the Poles cook the lettuce in the 1300s? Most likely it went into soup or it was poached in vinegar and served like an appetizer. Lettuce was considered “cold” in the medieval dietary system of humors, so it was always served with something “hot” like ginger, or with strong spices like cloves, cinnamon, or even garlic. Yes, one can easily imagine medieval Polish cooks preparing the stems with garlic sauce, in fact, I tried it and it is not too bad!

William Woys Weaver is a culinary historian living in Devon, Pennsylvania, were he maintains the Roughwood Seed Collection consisting of some 4000 varieties of food plants.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds contracts with more than 200 farmers to grow and harvest seeds. When our seed grow-out manager approached me about growing and harvesting seeds, I thought I would give it my best shot. I have been a gardener for many years, but until fairly recently had never really considered that I should be saving my own seeds. It was easier to just buy new seeds to plant every year.

Needing someone to grow and harvest Lemon Drop hot pepper seeds, Randel gave me a very small zip-lock bag containing 30 tiny pepper seeds. I took them home and very carefully planted each one in its own cell in plastic seed starter packets filled with seed starter medium. I set them on my dining room buffet which is one of the warmest spots in our house. Even though we heat our house with wood and keep it warmer than most homes, I knew those little pepper seeds would need something even warmer to help them to germinate. Failing to find my heating pad that I was sure I had stored in one of the closets, I resorted to pulling out a rubber hot water bottle. Filled with hot water twice daily and placed under the seed tray, it worked great to help those little guys along to germination.

I was excited to soon have a single tiny pepper sprout growing in one of the seed starting cells. From thereon, I checked those seed trays first thing every morning and first thing after arriving home each afternoon to see how many new sprouts had reached up out of the “soil.” The number of sprouts kept growing till it topped out at 22. Realizing that a 73% germination rate wasn’t exactly terrific, I accepted it as what I had to work with,.

I tended those little starts, trying to give them just the right amount of moisture and as much light as I possibly could. And then I realized that I had a trip to NYC planned and knew that I couldn’t leave my little Lemon Drops untended for a week and expect them to live. A co-worker graciously came to my rescue and volunteered to look over them a few days. Knowing her green thumb, I quickly took her up on the offer. One problem solved, with more to come.

Back from my trip, I found that those little pepper plants were ready to take back home and begin the hardening off process. Getting them home in the late afternoon and expecting a couple of more hours of warm sunshine, I set the tray of pepper starts out on the driveway while I went for my daily 4-mile walk. I was on my way back home when the dark clouds rolled in, the temperature dropped, and huge raindrops began to fall. After deciding to run the rest of the way home to beat as much of the approaching storm as possible, I quickly ducked into my husband’s workshop just as the hailstones began to bounce around on the ground.

I was listening to those marble-to-golf ball size hailstones hit the metal roof of the shop when I suddenly remembered that my pepper plants were out there taking a severe beating! Fearing that I would get a concussion if I ventured out into the hail storm, I waited till the pounding on the roof decreased before running out to check my tray. While I found that a few of the plants were indeed bent and broken, I was pleased to see that many of the tiny plants were still standing upright.

I continued putting out the tray of starts daily to harden off. The next problem was that I realized the pepper plants were outgrowing their tiny cell packs and we were still having frost at night so that I couldn’t yet set them out into the garden. I had no choice but to find larger cups and repot those little guys until I could be sure we were having frost-free nights.

Finally, I was convinced that it was safe to plant out in the garden. Living on a quarter-section (160 acres) of Ozarks farmland, I had to decide where to root those valuable plants. Knowing that peppers needed to be isolated by at least 500 feet to prevent cross pollination if the seed were to be viable for replanting, I had to plant them somewhere other than my kitchen vegetable garden where I wanted to grow my already-favorite varieties of peppers.

I decided to add the Lemon Drop pepper plants to my perennial garden that I had located in an older garden plot at the former homesite a quarter-mile away on the property. I had access to water and kept garden tools in an old shed there. What I didn’t think about, though, was that my dogs are a great help in keeping wild animal pests out of my garden. Having no dogs at the old garden, I quickly discovered that something—most likely deer or turkey—were munching the tops off my Lemon Drop pepper plants. I had to put fences around them to stop that.

By the time those pepper plants had become about 2 feet tall, they were quite bushy and loaded with small elongated green peppers. Being in a drought year meant that I had to water frequently and nurture the plants along till the peppers matured from lime-green color to bright yellow. Finally, it was time to harvest the seeds, which turned out to be much more time-consuming that I had appropriated time for. Donning rubber gloves, I sliced each pepper lengthwise and scraped the seeds into a large shallow pan, saving the pepper flesh for freezing and dehydrating to season dishes later. Soon sneezing and coughing and with eyes tearing, I learned very quickly that I needed to work in a well-ventilated area.

After hours of slicing peppers and removing seeds, I placed the seeds on the table under a ceiling fan in the sun room to dry for at least 2 weeks. Feeling a little discouraged when I put the seeds into a ziploc bag and took them to Randel, I was surprised that he appeared to be pleased with my amount of seeds, though I thought I didn’t have very many. He pointed out that Lemon Drop pepper seeds are very small and I had, indeed, harvested a couple of ounces (more than he had expected of me apparently). That encouragement kept me harvesting more seeds as they matured till frost. More importantly, I had fulfilled my commitment to Randel and Baker Creek, having produced enough seeds for a listing in the 2012 Baker Creek Seed Catalog.

Farming and gardening are always risky business. There are always the unknown variables of crop-damaging weather, lack of or too much rain, destruction by wild animals, etc. It is easy to see why seed companies vary their seed listings a little from year to year. The seed from particular varieties simply may not be available in a given year.

Kathy McFarland is a Baker Creek employee and a life-long Gardener.

Last week my husband and I got the privilege of meeting Jere Gettle of Baker Creek Seeds for the first time.  I can honestly say that I have never met a more genuine person.  We only had a few minutes to chat with him as we stopped by the Petaluma Seed Bank, but in the first five seconds of chatting with Jere you know how passionate he is about what he does.  I left there feeling like I needed to do more.  It used to be all I cared about was what I did on our little third of an acre lot, here in Sacramento.  Now I know I can do more to make change happen; one person at a time, one state at a time, and one country at a time.

With that, we have my first ever guest blog post thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  Kathy McFarland from Baker Creek is here to tell you about a new California Intiative we are trying to get on the November 2012 ballot that simply requests that food sold in retail establishments that contain genetically modified crops are labeled with that information.  Read on for more information:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company owners Jere and Emilee Gettle are in Petaluma, California, working fervently to ensure that Americans are entitled to know what is in the food they purchase.

Having always been interested in pure food, the Gettle family has joined the Label GMO effort in California where they also own the Petaluma Seed Bank, a retail outlet for Baker Creek seeds.

Much of the world already requires labeling for genetically engineered foods.  Fifty countries, including Japan, China, and the entire European Union already label foods with genetically engineered ingredients.  Americans, too, deserve the right to choose between foods containing GMO and non-GMO ingredients.

The Committee for the Right to Know is a grassroots coalition of consumer, public health, environmental organizations, and food companies in California that is seeking the labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).  On November 9, 2011, the coalition submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General for the title and summary, prior to circulation as an initiative measure for the November 2012 election.

The initiative needs 504,760 valid signatures by April 20 to make it on the November 2012 ballot.  Signatures can be declared invalid and thrown out for a number of technical reasons.  Therefore, the campaign plans to collect a significantly higher number of signatures to make sure they have enough valid ones to qualify.  It is imperative that anyone interested in having the right to know what is in our food should sign the petition.

Jere Gettle teamed up with Pamm Larry, founder of labelGMOs.org, to raise awareness of the initiative.  He designed a special seed packet to be used for the campaign.  The seed packets, packed with Baker Creek’s non-GMO San Marzano Tomato seeds, are being distributed free all over the state of California.  The San Marzano has been a favorite tomato of California gardeners for generations, and the campaign packets have become instantly popular.  Anyone who would like to help distribute the free packets at farmers’ markets, gardening events, or any other venue may simply email  jeregettle@gmail.com with a mailing address and number of packets requested for distribution.  Thousands and thousands of the special packets have already been sent for distribution, and many more thousands are being printed and packed.

While other states are also working on campaigns to get GMOs listed on nutrition labels, the Gettles are currently concentrating their efforts in California where there is large population of like-minded people in support of the measure.  The feeling is that if the initiative passes in California, then other states will quickly follow.  In most cases, it will not be financially feasible for companies to develop food labels listing GMOs only for the California market and also develop food labels without the listing for other states.

Anyone interested in joining the effort to require GMO ingredients to be labeled should contact www.labelGMOs.org to find out where they can sign a petition, how they can be trained to gather signatures, how they can donate to the campaign, or simply where they can get more information.  Our right to know what is in our food depends on this ballot.  Please don’t wait to contact Jere Gettle at jeregettle@gmail.com or Pamm Larry at labelGMOs.org..  Let’s get labeling on the ballot!

We also like stories about the seeds that have left our warehouse and have gone out into the hands and gardens of our customers. When this photo of the Pink Brandywine came across my desk, I was astonished at how much it looked so much like the one on our 2011 catalog cover, also depicted in the photograph sent in by a customer. I went searching for the story that would go with it.

Kirby and Dee Stafford of Brooksville, Florida, are dedicated backyard gardeners that grow plants in raised beds and a few 40-feet rows along the fence lines. That is impressive coming from someone who says, “Our garden size is limited to our hectic work schedules, and lots of deer/rabbits.”

The Staffords garden because they get a lot of satisfaction when they grow, cook, eat, and share the products of their garden. They both grew up with families who had gardens, and they remember that the best meals had fresh veggies in them. They also recognize that gardening helps them save on grocery bills and keeps them active as they get a bit older. When asked for their favorite tomato recipe, Dee answered, “Nothing beats a fresh tomato sandwich! White bread, Dukes Mayo, salt, pepper, and a fresh piece of lettuce! UMMM!”

Dee and Kirby turned to Baker Creek Seeds a couple of years ago when they read an article in their local newspaper about the “absolutely dysfunctional” tomato-growing business in Florida: poor soil being pumped with chemical fertilizers, gassing to create color, etc. The author of the article recommended Baker Creek Seeds as a real alternative source for Floridians who wanted to grow tomatoes the old-fashioned way and get a better product. The Staffords promptly went online, ordered a catalog, and the accompanying photo is the result of their first test of Baker Creek seeds.

The Staffords normally grow two or three varieties of tomatoes, always including at least one cherry tomato plant. In fact, they share their favorite gardening story that involves cherry tomatoes: “About 10 years ago, we planted a 10-feet by 20-feet stand of cherry tomatoes—fortifying the soil with donkey manure—and these plants just took off! By the time they finally quit producing, they were over 10 feet tall. The only thing that was unusual was that these particular plants seemed to not have any tomatoes for the first three or four feet of growth. We chalked it up to the fact that they were so tall, and so healthy, all the blooms were high up. Besides, we were getting hundreds of tomatoes, so it wasn’t a ‘problem.’ Then one day, looking out our window, we discovered why this was happening. Our dog, a 100-pound Labrador retriever, was weaving her way around the plants, gracefully pulling off all the red, ripe cherries she could reach! Following behind her was our German shepherd, getting the ones she would reach! Mystery solved!”

Kirby and Dee Stafford are typical examples of gardeners who use Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and have a story to tell. We appreciate their sharing their story.

Kathy McFarland is a Baker Creek employee and a life-long gardener.

Now that we truly are into our busiest season of the year, we are working long days to fill the many hundreds to thousands of orders that come in daily and get them out to our customers as quickly as possible. In fact, our goal is to fill orders the same day received, and we can usually accomplish that. Here is a little insight into the process of filling a seed order at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.

First of all, we have two warehouses, both managed by Chris. The first is where the seeds are extracted, sorted, and processed during our harvest season. It is also where we receive seeds from our contracted growers. Chris’s competent staff packs the seeds into their respective packets, either by hand or with our one seed packing machine. We now have about 85 percent of our seeds packed into colorful custom packets, with only a few still being placed into generic seed envelopes. Once the seeds are packed for sale, they are either stored in the second warehouse till they are needed or are taken immediately to the seed store where they are sold directly to walk-in customers or pulled to fill orders.

The order-processing part of the procedure begins with our customer service department. Headed by Lisa, this fine group of employees does more than just answer the telephones. Though the bulk of our orders are computer-generated and are electronically transmitted to the system for printing, we still have a surprising number of folks who prefer to send orders via postal mail. Lisa’s team inputs all of the mail orders into the computer system. They do that in the rare slow moments that they have between answering the phones to take orders, dispense growing advice, or to deal with a multitude of customer needs and requests.

Orders are then printed and filled by Angie’s floor crew. Our order fulfillment process requires a triple check for quality. Each order is first checked for accuracy of billing vs. shipping address and any special request notes by the customer before being filled. The “picker” then marks off each invoice item as he/she pulls the packet(s) from the shelf. Once the seeds are picked, a “checker” double checks to affirm that the quantity and variety of all packs is correct before sending the filled (but still unclosed) orders to the shipping department.

Danielle and her shippers take a final look at the filled orders. While they don’t verify each seed packet enclosed, they do look for special circumstances such as any refunds that are owed, invoices that need to be sent separately from the billing address, and any special shipping instructions from the customer. They take great care to bubble wrap books that are ordered and to secure the packages for transit. They are responsible for enclosing the invoice, sealing the packages, and printing shipping labels.

Seed orders under 14 ounces are put into padded envelopes and mailed first class. The USPS requires anything over 13 ounces to mailed Priority. Danielle’s crew determines if those Priority orders are better packaged in the bubble mailers, USPS Priority boxes, or in some cases for very large orders—packed in boxes and shipped by FedEx. Our domestic shipping fees are very simple. We charge the customer one price: $3.50! In most cases that is a real bargain because the very least that we can ship a priority package is $4.95, and we ship a lot of packages over 13 ounces! Shipping costs for international orders are automatically calculated by the on-line ordering system.

Finally, our huge canvas mail carts are filled with mailer envelopes and boxes. We have four daily scheduled package pickups during the busy season The USPS regular mail route carrier brings the daily mail from the post office and picks up the regular out-going mail. Toward the end of the day, the contracted USPS truck comes to pick up our multiple carts of packages. The FedEx ground driver comes around noon to pick up the packages being shipped by that company, while the FedEx Express driver comes in the later afternoon to pick any express packages. In addition, we occasionally have packages for the UPS driver to pick up.

In most cases, this entire process is completed during the course of one day—barring snow or ice storms, electric or electronic outages, postal holidays, or other unforeseen circumstances—and our customers get their seeds in a timely manner.

Kathy McFarland is a Baker Creek employee and a life-long gardener.

The labeling of foods containing GMOs (genetically modified organisms) is a wish of 93 percent of Americans who believe they have a right to know if the food they are purchasing contains GMOs. GMO labeling is also a top concern for organic farmers and food producers across the nation, and getting GMOs out of our food supply is a passionate cause lead by non-GMO advocates throughout the world.

“The best effort today for regulation (of GMOs) is the California Ballot Initiative, which bypasses the corporate driven politics and legislators, giving consumers the direct ability to require mandatory labeling of GMOs,” says Jeffrey Smith, America’s most prominent non-GMO advocate, GMO expert, and author of The Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating.

At the national level, there is the opportunity to support the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act (H.R. 3553) introduced by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich by writing to your state representative. The act is currently sitting in two committees—the House of Agriculture committee and the House of Energy and Commerce committee.

What You Can Do As a Consumer

The top three things we as consumers can do in the push to stop the use of GMOs in our foods is to learn more about them, avoid them, and get involved in helping others become aware of them, says Smith.

A great way to get involved in California is to volunteer to gather signatures on petitions to get the California Label GMOs Initiative on this November’s ballot. Volunteers are needed to gather petition signatures now through April. (Visit www.labelgmos.org to see how you can help.)

At the national level, visit http://www.opencongress.org/people/representatives to find contact information for your local congressman or congresswoman to urge their support of the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act (H.R. 3553). The passing of this bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to require that food that contains a genetically engineered material or that is produced with a genetically engineered material, be labeled accordingly.

Jeffrey Smith also urges concerned consumers to visit www.responsibletechnology.org (the Website for The Institute for Responsible Technology of which Smith is executive director) and sign up for a free Spilling the Beans newsletter and join The Tipping Point Network, which provides the opportunity to connect with others, locally or nationally, interested in doing outreach for the cause.

“The FDA does not actually approve any GMOs,” says Smith. “In 1992, their policy claimed that they were not aware of any information showing that GMOs were substantially different, and therefore, they said no testing was necessary, no labeling was necessary. In fact, companies like Monsanto, who told us that PCBs, Agent Orange, and DDT were safe, can make the full determination that their own GMOs are safe and put them on the market without telling consumers or the FDA.

“The policy turned out to be a lie,” stresses Smith. “In fact, the overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMOs were not only different but inherently dangerous and could lead to toxins, allergies, diseases and nutritional problems.”

These same FDA scientists have been urging their superiors to do something about this, but have been ignored, partly, according to Smith, because higher ups in the administration are former Monsanto employees. These scientists’ findings have even been validated by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, adds Smith, with the outcome being a recommendation to doctors that they should prescribe non-GMO diets to every patient.

The bottom line, Smith stresses, is that we should not trust the powers that be to safeguard us from the ill effects of GMOs.

Some Background on GMO’s

The Institute for Responsible Technology provides the following information on foods containing GMOs: “GM foods were made possible by a technology developed in the 1970s whereby genes from one species are forced into the DNA of other species. Genes produce proteins, which in turn can generate characteristics or traits. The promised traits associated with GMOs have been sky high—vegetables growing in the desert, Vitamin-fortified grains, and highly productive crops feeding the starving millions. None of these are available. In fact, the only two traits that are found in nearly all commercialized GM plants are herbicide tolerance and/or pesticide production.”

What has also been found in many studies done over the years are adverse health effects in animals, and this past summer, in pregnant women and their fetuses. Animal studies have shown a five-fold increase in infant mortality, says Smith, as well as smaller babies and sterile babies. This is information that has been available for awhile, yet more recently in humans, a study conducted in Canada revealed that BT toxin, the insecticide produced from Monsanto BT Mon810 corn (which is genetically modified to resist corn borers by producing its own insecticide) was found in 93 percent of the pregnant women tested and 80 percent of their unborn fetuses, according to Smith. This nullifies the claim by regulators that BT toxin was destroyed in the digestive process, he adds.

Those doing the study proposed that the BT toxin, the protein, may have come from milk and meat from animals fed the corn. However, another theory with a more direct correlation, which Smith feels carries more weight, comes from the only human feeding study ever published, which shows that genes inserted into soybeans to make the soy Roundup-ready transferred into the DNA of bacteria living inside of our intestines and probably continued to function.

“If the same transfer were to occur from corn by eating, for example, corn chips or tortillas,” says Smith, “then it may turn our intestinal floor into living pesticide factories where our own gut bacteria produces the BT toxin on a continuous basis.”

Non-GMO Project Verification in Action

In October, Northern California dairyman Albert Straus participated and spoke before hundreds of attendants from throughout the world at the Right2Know Rally in Washington D.C., spreading the word on the importance of labeling genetically modified foods on behalf of the national Just Label It: We Have a Right to Know campaign, which his dairy sponsors.

As an organic farmer, Straus favors a “proactive versus a reactive” stance in the push to get foods containing GMOs labeled, and he has been very proactive in preserving the “organic integrity” of his certified organic dairy farm on the coast of West Marin, raising his dairy herd without antibiotics, hormones or pesticides. To ensure that the feed he gives his cows and the ingredients he uses in his products are GMO-free, Straus and his suppliers test all the ingredients in their products, including the feeds for his dairy cows and the seeds he uses to grow his forage crops.

“We have a verification system,” explains Straus, who began testing for GMOs in 2006. “We use a PCR (Protein Chain Reaction) test to test for GMOs in our products.” In April 2010, Straus Family Creamery became the first creamery to achieve Non-GMO Project Verification for all its products. (Albert Straus also offers information on the running of his certified organic farm and on his GMO testing process to interested organic farmers. He can be reached at family@strausmilk.com.)

Albert and other organic farmers are disheartened by the USDA’s full deregulation of genetically modified alfalfa last January, which allows unrestricted planting of Roundup Ready crop. Alfalfa is an essential feed for his dairy cows, and the potential contamination of organic alfalfa from genetically modified alfalfa poses a significant threat to his company and the organic dairy industry. The organic alfalfa growing industry needs to start testing and verifying its crops are GMO-free, he adds.

“Consumers need to be aware,” he stresses. “They need to get information and educated about the effects of GMOs on the environment and our food supply.” Straus also urges consumers to share their GMO knowledge with others and to get involved in GMO labeling initiatives both locally and federally.

“Sustainability, family farms, organic, non-GMO are the future,” says Straus, “and GMOs cannot be in our food system.” Currently, he adds, “70 to 80 percent of our food is contaminated with GMOs. We’re just the guinea pigs.”