Petaluma gets 'Home Depot' of heirloom seed stores

The drafty old bank building in historic downtown Petaluma is empty no more. Jeremiah Gettle, 28, founder of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds of Missouri, has opened his first satellite store at Petaluma Boulevard and East Washington Street.

Gettle brought in an Amish work crew clad in overalls and straw hats to do the inside carpentry and create old-fashioned colorful painted signs on the soaring windows at the former Sonoma County National Bank site at 199 Petaluma Blvd. The building for decades was home to an oriental carpet and antiques shop.

“I was shocked to see them take the place over,” said Grayson James, founder of Petaluma Bounty. “At first I thought the signs were a little gimmicky, but having visited I’m thrilled they are here.”

Gettle said that after a long search in California, Petaluma spoke to him. “I chose Petaluma because 50 percent of our California catalog customers live within an hour’s drive,” he said. “I quickly realized that in Sonoma County everyone is into growing and eating local.”

The massive bank doors were thrown open June 8 to gardeners, farmers, chefs and others interested in the slow food movement, which emphasizes preserving regional and cultural cuisine by relying on locally produced food supplies. It is intended as the antithesis of mass market food production symbolized by fast food.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, Mo. markets more than 1,200 varieties of heirloom seeds that are described at the company’s Web site www.rareseeds.com as “pure, natural and non-GMO.”

“We will also feature local artisan foods like honey, jams and spices and original art,” said store manager Paul Wallace.

Gettle issued his first seed catalog in 1998. From an original 550 subscribers the list has grown to over 70,000 customers making Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds the largest catalog seed provider of its type.

“Seed banks aren’t new,” said Shepherd Bliss, owner of Kokopelli Farms in Sebastopol. “They keep alive seeds which are endangered. They put them in the hands of local people.”

Bliss said that a renaissance of heirloom seeds is a reaction to what some see as corporate greed.

“Seeds are endangered by the corporate buy-ups by Monsanto and other large agri-businesses who are concerned mainly with profit,” Bliss said.

For John Finley of Sustainable Seed Company in Monte Rio, the arrival of Baker Creek in Sonoma County could be good news for similar, but smaller, seed banks.

“The interest in heirloom seeds has just gone through the roof,” said Finley. “People want to grow their own food, not only for economic reasons but for nutrition reasons, too.”

Finley joked that the arrival of the out-of-state seed bank is validating and frustrating.

“It’s not the new kid on the block; it’s the Home Depot of heirloom seeds. But I think it’s good for heirloom seeds in general,” he said. “I’m hoping people will check us out too.”

On a recent sunny morning home gardener Debbie Rosson of Petaluma and Timber Cove was perusing the massive wooden racks filled with colorful seed packets. She already had chosen and ordered her seeds for next planting season. That didn’t stop her from nearly drooling in admiration.

“I actually lust for seeds,” she said, patting a packet of poppy seeds she bought for a friend. “The combination of utilizing a beautiful historic building and offering heirloom seeds is fantastic.”

Gettle was home-schooled and enjoys traveling the globe to collect and preserve seeds for his seed bank. He has a quirky side too, collecting vintage Western clothing including famed Nudie Cohn suits, the Hollywood glamour label in which Elvis Presley and John Lennon often performed.

Visitors are known to travel long distances to spend the day at the Baker Creek compound in Missouri. They can buy seeds, watch demonstrations, shop for foods and enjoy two Garden Festivals annually.

“We just started monthly musical events with fiddles and old fashioned music,” said Gettle.

He said he will likely summers in Missouri and parts of the winter in Sonoma County. He’s already visited two dozen North Bay farms and wants to visit every Farmer’s Market in Sonoma County on his next trip out.

“I’m really excited about being in Petaluma. It’s a very friendly community,” he said. “The only people we made nervous was the bank across the street, but only for five minutes.”