A Journey into Diversity: Visiting Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds & Auction

in #gardening7 years ago (edited)

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Many of you who grow plants have probably heard of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

It’s famous and has a lot of seeds that are hard to find heirloom varieties that are quite special. What you may not know is that it is located in the Ozarks (close to the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead) and is close to us!

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Last spring our neighbor invited us to go to their annual Spring Festival.

They were having an auction (at which I bid on and won 15 12 pack cases of quart ball jars LOL!), vendor booths, and a tour of their extensive seed operation, gardens and greenhouses. Talk about inspiration!

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I was really impressed by their greenhouses.

They push the limits of what we can grow here in Southern Missouri. They had bananas and other tropical fruits (although they said they didn't really bear much fruit, it's worth experimenting!)

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The gardens were gorgeous too.

They do grow quite a bit of the seed they sell there, although they also have a bunch of "growers" that propagate the plants and save seed from ALL OVER THE WORLD.

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But my favorite part about the tour was seeing WHERE THEY KEEP THE SEEDS!!

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They have isles and isles of seed storage, immaculately organized. And a mechanized seed packer!

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All in all, it was a great trip.

I'd suggest supporting Baker Creek Heirloom seeds for your seed needs on your homestead or in your garden. Their diversity is incredible and they're a really stand-up company.

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beautiful photographs! Baker Creek is my primary seed company for those seeds I do not save on my own. They have an excellent selection of rare seeds. Great post!

Right on! Their selection is awesome.. thank you.

We absolutely love the planting festival! @hethur240 and I talked a little of all the Steemians who planned to attend this year should wear Steem tshirts so we can identify each other. I thought her idea was awesome! I hear @poppapepper makes some rad t's. Maybe we could get him to design them! 😋

Great photos btw. Now I've got spring fever!

That’s awesome! Y’all will be going next spring? So cool to meet steemians in real life :)

My husband and I will definitely be there! We wouldn’t miss it!
Pretty sure @hethur240 said she would also.
Well have to exchange information so can be sure to meet up and shake hands or something!

I love how you structured your post and made it very visual but still informative :)

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i've ordered from them before, and their quality is fantastic. that festival looks like so much fun (and i love warehouses, too!).

What a dream place to visit!!
I'm with you... the greenhouses would definitely have my full attention.

YES!! so gorgeous! so lush!!

We order from them every year. I love their selection and ethos. Looks amazing, maybe one day we'll be able to visit them ourselves!

Yes, they have amazing selection. Any favorite seeds you’ve bought?

The Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato stands out the most to me. It was our favorite tomato for a while, giant yellow tomatoes that are so sweet it reminded me of a mango. When me made salsa with it, I swear it tasted like mango salsa. Also the strawberry popcorn, that was a really fun one to grow for my daughter. The Hungarian hot wax peppers were amazing as well, we made a great fermented relish with them.

I wish I lived near there. Whenever I am looking for hard to find seeds they usually come up in my internet searches.