Banking on growth

The Seed Bank:
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
199 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma, CA 94952
(707) 509-5171
Owner: Jere Gettle
Web site: www.rareseeds.com For Jere Gettle, the seed of an idea sprouts quickly. That includes the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog business he started 12 years ago at age 17, as well as his most recent venture, a California store where West Coast gardeners can choose from more than 1,200 heirloom seed varieties in person.

In March 2009, Jere, who also owns Bakersville Pioneer Village in Mansfield, Mo., home of his original heirloom seed store and authentic pioneer town, took off for California with his wife, Emilee, in search of a site for a new seed store. “We drove along the coast from Southern California to Northern California looking for the right space,” said Jere.

It wasn’t until the couple hit Petaluma, a San Francisco Bay-Area suburb, with a charming historic downtown, that they knew they’d found it. There at the hub of the town’s main boulevard was a “For Lease” sign in one of the tall, arched windows of a towering 1920s Roman Renaissance Revival-style building. Jere was immediately taken with its elegantly curved façade topped by an elaborate, classical balustrade, but more importantly, the building’s character and history perfectly complemented the heirloom seeds he travels the world to collect.

Open for business
In June, just two months later, after making their way through mounds of required paperwork, Jere and Emilee opened their new heirloom seed and gardening gift store in the grand Petaluma building, which was once the Sonoma County branch of Bank of America, and aptly named their new business the Seed Bank.

Jere had the locals buzzing right away as he brought in Amish workers in plain clothing and traditional hats to help him set up shop, as well as fellow Missourian Greg Clemens to hand paint huge vegetables and gigantic letters spelling “Rare Seed” on the building’s mammoth windows.

The Petaluma location proved to be ideal, within a one-hour radius of half the Gettles’ California mail-order customers, and on the corner of a busy intersection frequented by Northern California tourists heading to the coast or the nearby Napa Wine country.

Jere is excited to have this additional venue to spread the word out about fruits and vegetables grown from heirloom seeds, which, of course, readers of Jere and Emilee’s Heirloom Gardener magazine already know. Jere hopes more folks will buy into the colorful, nutritious and better-tasting produce these non-hybrid, non-GMO (genetically modified organisms), non-treated, non-patented seeds yield.

A towering 1920s Roman Renaissance Revival-style building is home to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds' latest venture.Jere also hopes to use the California store to mail out seed orders when winter ice storms cause power outages at his southern Missouri location. He and Emilee plan to visit the new location at least twice a year to meet customers and participate in store events. The building’s spacious interior, complete with marble accents and large ornate rosettes studding the high ceiling, affords lots of room for holding garden-themed talks, demonstrations, and other events. Lecture subjects planned include collecting heirloom seeds and organic, raised-bed gardening.

The store has the feel of a bygone era, and Jere plans to add to its authenticity by having employees dress in period clothing from the mid-twenties and early thirties, when the building was constructed.

“I want customers to feel they’re stepping back in time, getting back to the land,” Jere said. “Everyone’s been really positive,” he added. “They’re really excited to have these seeds in the area. People are really friendly and very interested in organic gardening and buying local non-GMO seeds and food.”

Being neighborly
In the spirit of supporting organically grown foods, the Seed Bank will donate heirloom seeds to local schools, nonprofits and community gardens. Jere also plans to provide a West Coast help line—a phone number locals can call for answers to their heirloom seed and gardening questions.

“Even though seeds cost little money, they are something of value,” he said. He hopes to encourage local gardeners to keep a collection of their heirloom seeds for future generations.

Jere loves the great big windows and high ceiling in his new California seed store. “When you’re in here, it feels like being outdoors,” he said. Locals in the quaint Sonoma County town have a similar feeling, namely, the Gettles and their Seed Bank are a breath of fresh air supporting an affordable, healthful pastime for generations to come.

Sue Capella is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Petaluma, California. Reach her at SueCapella@gmail.com.