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

Sagami Hanjiro cucumber is a traditional Japanese variety used primarily for slicing. The name comes from Sagami, an area in Japan, and “Hanjiro” means two-toned. This cucumber is dark green and lime green.

Little Green eggplant produces neon-green fruits that are sweet, mild, and firm. This is a new introduction grown from seed sent to us from the former Soviet Union.

Aswad eggplant is an incredibly delicious Iraqi variety from our friend Nael Aziz. The satiny, dark purple-black fruits get up to 3 pounds or more.

Cambodian Green Giant eggplant is a large, round, flat variety from the kingdom of Cambodia. We collected this variety in 2004 when we were touring this once war-torn southeast Asian country.

Golden Crispy melon is a commercial variety that was discontinued in the early 1980′s. Small oblong to pear-shaped fruits are incredibly sweet and uniquely aromatic.

Uzbek Sweetness melon is an early melon from Uzbekistan. The golden skin encases pure white, sugary-sweet flesh.

Lemon Drop hot pepper is a seasoning pepper from Peru. It ripens to a clear lemon yellow and has an uncomplicated and slightly citrus-y heat.

Omaha Pumpkin squash is an Oscar Will Seed Company introduction, dating to 1924, but collected much earlier from the Omaha Indians. It matures early with tall, cylindrical, upright pumpkins which make cute Jack O’ Lanterns and good pies.

Tsungshigo Chinese tomato is a small, reddish-chocolate colored grape-shaped tomato with a sweet earthy flavor. Seed came originally from a Chinese commercial vendor.

Purple Pear tomato is a great snacking variety. Pear-shaped fruits are about 2 ounces and colored a deep purple-pink. Seed was originally received from our Ukrainian correspondent.

Abu Rawan tomato is another variety contributed by expatiate Iraqi seed collector Nael Aziz. Having a sweeter taste than most Iraqi tomatoes, this has solid, all-purpose flesh and will take the heat.

Ivory Pear tomato is a new staff favorite. Cute little 1-ounce fruits are ivory-cream in color and shaped like little pears.

 Pilcer Vesy tomato Is a classic, huge, yellow beefsteak type that we received from Russia. The fruits are a lovely lemon yellow and have fantastic flavor.

Dwarf Queeny Mixed hollyhock is compact and ideal for bedding use and containers. Huge, fully-double blooms are all along the stems.

Tall Orange Sun sunflower sports clear yellow-orange, six-inch, fully-double flowers that look like super-sized chrysanthemums perched atop plants that reach 4-5 feet in height.

Be sure to look at our newly updated website www.rareseeds.com. You will find flip versions of our 2012 catalog and sample issue of the Heirloom Gardener magazine for your browsing and reading pleasure, as well as many more photos, slide shows, and videos. We are also excited to offer iPad versions of both our 2012 Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog and the Heirloom Gardener.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and successful gardening in 2012!

Kathy and the entire Baker Creek staff.

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

Gary Paul Nabhan has been called “the father of the local food movement” by Mother Earth News, yet he’s referred to himself as being more of a “weird uncle.” Perhaps he’s both, and after talking with Gary and visiting his Website, one may also conclude that he’s a “best friend” to endangered seeds and foods, from grains to heritage livestock, although you’d still only have a fraction of the story.
Gary is an internationally celebrated nature writer, seed saver, conservation biologist, sustainable agriculture activist, orchard-keeper, wild forager and Ecumenical Franciscan brother in his hometown of Patagonia, Arizona near the Mexican border. And, he is author or editor of 24 books, many translated into other languages. Also, for his writing and collaborative conservation work, he has been honored with a MacArthur genius award, a Southwest Book Award, the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing, The Vavilov Medal, and lifetime achievement awards from the Quivira Coalition and Society for Ethnobiology.
Gary works most of the year as a research scientist at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona, and the rest of his time goes to serving as co-founder-facilitator of several food and farming alliances, including Renewing America’s Food Traditional (RAFT) and Flavors Without Borders.

If you’re lucky enough to catch up with Gary, you’ll learn that his current focuses read like his list of accomplishments—there are many and they’re all important in preserving the earth and our pure food sources. There is also a strong emphasis on collaboration in the conservation of heirloom seeds, produce and heritage livestock breeds, bringing together seed savers, growers, farmers, ranchers and chefs who work together to bring these pure, non-GMO, nutrition-rich, flavorful foods to public attention.
“Saving heirloom seeds is one of the many steps in getting those foods back on our tables,” says Gary.
Heritage grains are a current focus of RAFT. White Sonora Wheat, introduced to Arizona in 1690, is at the top of the list and is currently being raised on conservation farms from seeds Gary received from a Southwest farmer and saved for years. And true to RAFT’s collaborative approach, these farmers are communicating with growers of our oldest flours; the crops will be milled at a historic mill; and the resulting heritage wheat flour will be used by chefs in recipes that preserve the original flavors and uses of the grain. Throughout this conservation process, information will be exchanged, stories of this regional food and its food producers will be shared, and publications will be created to document all. Also to be conserved in a similar way is the oldest corn variety in the U.S.
An important belief behind RAFT’s mission is that “the best assurance for continued diversity in our food supply lies in connecting the stories, flavors, fragrances and textures of these foods to larger audiences, so their eating, purchasing, and recreation habits once again support the food’s producers.”

Gary also stresses our collaboration with the land, adapting to climate and land availability. He farms an heirloom orchard with 50 varieties of rare fruits and nuts evaluating them for climate change, global warming and other erratic weather as well as for bugs and disease.
“With climate change, we’re going to see crops diminishing,” he says. “More and more, we will be emphasizing drought tolerance and ‘place-based’ seeds.”
One such focus is on place-based seeds of desert terroirs and the foods that grow in these hot, dry climates. Desert foods actually taste stronger and have more pungent flavors, Gary shares.
Another area of focus is the well-being of the insects and animals that aid in the growing of our food crops. It’s estimated that “pollination services” provided to our crops and rangeland forages by bees and other animals is valued at no less than $15-20 billion a year in the United States—at one time provided to us “for free.” Recent studies show that these valuable services need our help in the form of providing pollinators with food, sheltered nesting areas and pesticide-free habitats.
Gary invites everyone to be a co-designer of our food systems, to plant aesthetically and grow nutritionally potent foods. “We all need to redesign with the climate change, join groups, collaborate; and each of us needs to be plant introducers and promoters.”
Find out more about Gary Paul Nabhan, RAFT, and what is being done to preserve our heritage foods as well as how to farm in collaboration with the land and changing climates at http://garynabhan.com/i/
and http://www.vaviblog.com/about-2/gary/

Susan Audrey is a Northern California writer, editor, photographer and artist. She can be reached at tosusanaudrey@gmail.com

There is no doubt that everyone who attended the National Heirloom Expo is a winner! We so much appreciate all of our sponsors who helped to make this dream come true. And what a dream it was! More than 10,000 people came together to celebrate pure and non-GMO food.

With more than 70 speakers, including internationally acclaimed speakers each evening, audiences had many choices of topics to hear. Many presenters were speaking to standing-room-only crowds.

Children’s Education Day was filled with all kinds of activities for the kids: everything from potato sack races to fun and games and contests and freebies. Schools were invited to enter produce displays into competition. Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist Elizabeth Olson and Urban Oaks Organic Farm General Manager Michael Kandifer of New Britain, Connecticut, who judged the school displays, were more than pleased with their quality. School winners were Northwest Prep School, taking 3rd place and Salmon Creek School, receiving 2nd place. Two schools representing different age groups each received 1st place ratings: Cesar Chavez Middle School and Tennyson High School. Teachers, parents, and students are to be commended for their good work.

In addition to the school displays, the Hall of Flowers was filled with many more displays to be admired and judged. The following winners indicate the quality of those displays: Best of show prizes were awarded to The Great Pumpkin Patch, Redwood Empire, and Soda Rock Farm. Farm booth winners were Quetzal Farm, Cedars of Marin, and Green String Farm. Tomato honors were awarded to Soda Rock Farm, Wild Boar Farms, and Volkerts Ranch. Winners in the squash category were The Great Pumpkin Patch, Bear Creek Pumpkin Patch, and Levi Zook of Pennsylvania.

In the General Vegetables category, honors went to Early Bird Place, Oak Hill Farm and Indian Valley. Fruit category winners were Redwood Empire California Rare Fruit Growers, Monterey Rare Fruit Growers, and Durst Organic Growers. Educational Farms receiving honors were Bio Tierra Biodiversity Research Gardens, Summerfield-Waldorf School and Farm, and Growing Your Greens. Landscaping winners were Dan Pozzi, Daniel R. Gibbs, and Sonoma Compost. Exceptional category winners were Hector’s Honeybees, Bloomfield Farms, and Marans Chicken Club.

Individual winners were chef Ray Duey, Los Olivo’s Homegrown Garlic, and Early Bird Place. The Diversity of Products winners were Southern Exposure–Seed Exchange, Dean York Gardens, and Tierra Vegetables. Finally, the Worth Mentioning category honored Elizabeth’s Finest, Guy Family Farms, and Tristano’s Tolay Twisted. All winners are congratulated and recognized for their fine work.

No exposition celebrating food would be complete without the traditional judging of jams and jellies–and that includes the National Heirloom Exposition. Judges Emilee Gettle, Kathy McFarland, and Debbie Gettle had a difficult time determining winners of the many jams, jellies, sauces, etc. entered for competition. They finally awarded the Grand Champion rosette to Jessica Walsh of Staley Mound Farm in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, for her Basil Banana Pepper Jelly. Reserve Grand Champion honors went to Catherine Thode of Sebastobol, California, for her Pink Pearl Applesauce.

Many other winners placed in various divisions. In the Dried Produce category, Jessica Walsh of Staley Mound Farm in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, took 1st place for her Sun Dried Tomatoes. In the Pickles category, 1st place was awarded to Anea Botton of Sonoma Valley, California, for her Chow Chow Mustard Pickles. Jessica Walsh of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, took 2nd and 3rd places respectively for her Pickled Hot Peppers and Sweet Pickled Banana Peppers. Jessica Walsh impressed the judges of the Salsas, Etc. category to place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively for her Zesty Salsa, Candied Jalapenos, and Bruschetta in a Jar. Jessica Walsh also dominated the Jellies category by receiving 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively for her Basil Banana Pepper Jelly, Habanero Gold Jelly, and Mulberry Jelly. The Sauces category winners were 1st place Catherine Thode of Sebastobol, California, for her Pink Pearl Applesauce, 2nd place Anea Botton, of Sonoma Valley, California, for her Nectarine Mustard, and Jessica Walsh of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, for her Pear Butter.

Jams category top honors went to Jessica Walsh of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, for her Strawberry Jalapeno Jam. 2nd place was awarded to Cynthia Perez of Madera, California, for her Peach Habanero Jam. Jessica Walsh received 3rd place for her Hot Habanero Gold Jam. In the Syrups category, Anea Botton of Sonoma Valley, California, received 1st place for her Raspberry Soda Syrup. Jessica Walsh of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, received 2nd place for her Mulberry Syrup, and Ana Botton of Sonoma Valley, California, received 3rd place for her Key Lime Soda Syrup. Baked Goods category top honors went to Cheryl Madrigal of Calistoga, California, for her Zucchini Bread. Organizers of the National Heirloom Expo greatly appreciate all contestants who entered foods for judging.

The premier National Heirloom Exposition was an unqualified success and will lead to another one next year. Please continue to watch the National Heirloom Exposition website for more winners of this year’s expo and for more information about future expo.

Author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating and Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, Mr. Smith has, for over fifteen years, been on a relentless campaign to raise public awareness of the well-documented dangers of GMOs in our agriculture and food supply. “GMOs have been linked to thousands of toxic and allergic-type reactions, thousands of sick, sterile and dead livestock and damage to virtually every organ and system studied in lab animals,” Smith was quoted as saying in a 2008 article from Reuters.

photo courtesy of IRT

Mr. Smith recently returned from Vietnam, where he provided expert opinion on GMOs as that country considers allowing the commercialization of GM crops. In a recently emailed commentary, Smith pointed out the irony of such as possibility, as Vietnam continues to suffer high rates of birth defects due to the widespread use of Monsanto’s Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Monsanto is generally considered to be the leading promoter of GMO and other chemical and food biotechnologies worldwide, with an extraordinary amount of influence on governmental policy-making around those issues. In December of 2010, Smith published an article on Huffington Post which cited a memo (released via WikiLeaks) by the U.S. ambassador to France, suggesting the U.S. government retaliate against the European Union for attempting to regulate a new genetically-modified Monsanto corn product.

In 2003, Smith founded the Institute for Responsible Technology (www.responsibletechnology.org) in order to investigate genetically modified organisms and educate policy makers and the general public about their effects upon our environment, agriculture, and food systems. Visitors to the IRT website can find an extensive list of educational materials, downloadable documents and a non-GMO shopping guide, as well as a calendar of Jeffrey Smith’s upcoming speaking engagements and activist trainings.

Mr. Smith will speak at the National Heirloom Exposition on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, at 7 p.m.  He will also be conducting an Activist’s Circle at the Expo on Wednesday, September 14 at 3 p.m.  The Exposition runs September 13, 14 and 15, 2011 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds in Sonoma County, California. To purchase tickets to the Exposition and for more details, visit www.nationalheirloomexposition.com. (Special incentives available for online ticket purchase.) Admission is $10 per day for adults; no charge for children and youth up to 17 years old. Three-day pass is $25.

You cannot miss Rob Keller’s Mobile Bee Observatory! Along with
Connolly Ranch, Napa and the St. Helena Montessori School, Rob will be
available to talk to people at various times during the day at the National Heirloom Exposition. Rob Keller’s artistic practice is inseparable
from his work as a beekeeper and teacher. Through the Napa Valley Bee
Company, he raises awareness about the honeybee and the importance of
strong genetics for local indigenous bees to flourish.

Rob shows off his bees

Keller breeds and cares for bees, managing three large scale apiaries, teaching
sustainable beekeeping, and creating art projects that raise awareness
about the importance of bees.

The mobile bee observatory

The Mobile Bee Observatory is a honeybee ecology classroom on wheels.
With the help of a Creative Work Fund grant, Rob Keller furnished a
28-foot Airstream trailer with a floor-to-ceiling observation hive and
a honey tasting station. Keller has traveled to Napa and Sonoma County
schools, museums, county fairs and other venues sharing his knowledge
of beekeeping and extolling the beauty and importance of the honeybee.

The observation hive

Keller hopes to take the Bee Trailer on John Muir’s historic route
through the Yosemite National Park along which Muir wrote letters,
essays about bees, and books telling of his adventures in nature and
wildlife, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Havin a look

Rob and the crew will be at the Heirloom Exposition on all three days.
While there he hopes to complete an over-sized mosaic skep which will
have a honeybee flying on either side. Enjoy watching them work!

Bee Mosaic

The Heirloom Exposition is delighted to announce that Alice Waters has agreed to be the keynote speaker at the Expo for Wednesday, September 14, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California. Ms. Water joins a stellar lineup of top-notch speakers including Dr. Vandana Shiva and author Jeffrey Smith.

Photo By David Liittschwager

Ms. Waters is a near-legendary figure in the pure foods movement, and was a pioneer of local foods. Internationally recognized as an author, activist, humanitarian, and restaurateur, Ms. Waters was one of the first advocates of the ‘eat local’ revolution. Her critically-acclaimed Berkeley, California restaurant, Chez Panisse, which opened its doors in 1971, has always served only organic, local produce, fresh in season or else preserved by natural means, such as root-cellar storage.

A quick glance at the menu at Chez Panisse reveals intriguing-sounding delicacies like Grilled Wolfe Ranch quail saltimbocca with chanterelle mushrooms, pancetta, and sage; Sebastopol Berry Farm blackberry feuilleté; Chino Ranch corn soup with herb soufflé; Seared yellowtail with green coriander and lime, and many others, all equally beguiling. http://www.chezpanisse.com

Ms. Waters has gone beyond making quality local food available for upscale restaurant patrons, however. Her “The Edible Schoolyard,” project, begun in 1996, consists of a one-acre organic garden at Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School, also in Berkeley. http://www.edibleschoolyard.org The thriving garden is maintained by the students, who also use the produce in their cooking classes, etc. Dovetailing with the organic theme of the project, various classes relate to diverse aspects of the garden, including science, health and nutrition. Additionally the students gain first-hand experience in the pleasures of physical work, and the satisfaction of enjoying the tangible products of their labor. The project is overseen by Ms. Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation, which she founded to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the establishment of her restaurant. http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org

Ms. Waters has written a number of books, mainly wonderful cookbooks written in collaboration with her chefs, and also “The Edible Schoolyard,” in which she writes about the project. She has been deeply involved in Slow Food International, and has received numerous other honors.

Visit The National Heirloom Exposition Website www.theheirloomexpo.com

Comstock, Ferre, & Co (comstockferre.com) employees are busily preparing their big birthday party. On June 5, 2011, they will celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the company’s founding. Located in historic Wethersfield, Connecticut, the business is beginning its third century of supplying quality vegetable and flower seeds to New England, the U.S., and the world.

Jere and Emilee Gettle, owners of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, Missouri, purchased Comstock, Ferre & Co in 2010. The Gettles are quite dedicated to preserving the history of seeds and seed saving and are looking forward to being a part of the festival, which is free for the public to attend.

Pumpkins at Comstock Ferre Co.

Attendees will enjoy the celebration as employees dressed in colonial period clothing help to re-create an atmosphere of the company’s early days when the Connecticut River played a major roll in supplying garden seeds to local Wethersfield and other areas far away.. A section of the property will be transformed to a settler’s camp from the 18^th Century, including a tent dedicated to selling period-appropriate goods.

Any current or “would-be” gardeners will find a wide choice of plants for purchase at the festival. Not only is the greenhouse on the grounds full of seedlings growing from some of the most unusual and delicious seeds of the Baker Creek and Comstock lines, but there will also be other vendors showcasing and selling their bedding plants and seedlings.

Heirloom Produce at Comstock Ferre Co.

Anyone not interested in the actual physical aspect of gardening but still looking for quality food will find a farmer’s market on site where they can support local farmers by purchasing locally grown produce. Chaplin Farms and Urban Oaks are just two of the farming venues to be present.

In addition, the fun-filled day will include old-fashioned music and re-enactors educating people about life in Colonial New England. Visitors will enjoy cooking demonstrations and eye-catching displays of seeds, books, tools, and more.

In keeping with the Gettles’ philosophy of educating people about gardening, there will be lots of opportunity for learning throughout the day. Receive information about bees and beekeeping, composting, community gardening, identifying and encouraging beneficial insects, raised bed gardening, trellising, and much more. Learn from nationally-known writers and speakers who will be presenting. The renowned William Woys Weaver will present a lecture at noon, titled The Mainstreaming of Heirloom Foods.

William-Woys-Weaver

At 4 pm, the renowned Margaret Roach will be presenting a lecture titled Nonstop Plants – the 365 Day Garden. Because space is limited, reserve your free tickets here: http://comstockferre.eventbrite.com/

While a wide variety of food vendors will have food selections to fit nearly every palate, other vendors will be selling and/or demonstrating herbs, soaps, gardening supplies, candles, and much more.

June 5, 2011 is definitely a day to mark on your calendars. If you live near the Northeast or will be visiting the area during that time, be sure to take in Comstock ,Ferre & Co.’s big celebration.

Check out the the Comstock, Ferre, & Co Website

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