sharing Seeds from the past for a better future

building and garden in winter — The famous Baker Creek Seed Store.

old store — Inside the Baker Creek Seed Store.

The barren garden in winter, at the heart of the village.

greenhouses — Greenhouses at Baker Creek.

old building — A music venue in the pioneer village.

old car and windmill — A windmill and antique car at one of the village buildings.

A pretty house overlooking the pioneer village.

A blacksmith building and covered wagon in the pioneer village.

cows — Cows on the drive out of Baker Creek.

cloth sign — Sign from a giftshop at Baker Creek.

Even approaching Christmas, with temperatures in the thirties and the showcase garden of Bakersville bare, Baker Creek was still a wonderful trip. It’s a bit past the town of Mansfield, Missouri. I made a wrong turn and followed a miles long, winding, a bit washed out in parts, dirt road through the scenic countryside and was relieved to see pavement and recall that there is a friendlier route for next time.

And there will be many next times as I visited once before when the gardens were in bloom and beautiful birds were on display and the weather was kinder. On a chilly December day, I was happy to quickly peek about the quiet village and enter the warmth of the bright and colorful seed store.

Baker Creek is the self proclaimed, largest heirloom seed company, mailing out over a million of their gorgeous seed catalogs each year. I remember perusing seed catalogs as a kid. I never imagined this annual work of art when I thought of a catalog. It captures the vast collection in stunning, professional photos and is well worth the fee for over 500 pages. Or, you can get a free, streamlined version (at 90 plus pages!). Click here to order either catalog

The Gettle family that owns and runs the whole operation is on a mission to educate, excite and help a world learn to grow and feed itself with non GMO, heirloom seeds. Jere Gettle began the operation in 1998. They do make money, but also support charities and give away seeds to worthy causes. And there’s quite a bit of hard work that goes into their gardens, stores and research.

Last year I was in awe of all the seeds they had for sale in their store. So many varieties that I experienced for the first time, from around the world. While the little village, with cute gift shops, was fun to poke around, the gem of the visit is the seed store (and then the restaurant). Shelf after shelf of glossy seed packets sit in little rows, all neatly labeled waiting to be taken home. My guest on this trip couldn’t get over how many varieties of peppers and basil existed.

I purchased Clyde’s Garden Planner that promises to help me organize and plan my garden. Last year in my garden, after sweating out in the Missouri summer sun, and getting a genuine red neck, I sheepishly bought a bonnet in the seed store. I was shy about wearing it, not being Amish, Mennonite or a reenactment participant. It was awesome. It kept bugs and sun off of my face and the back of my neck. It was lightweight and didn’t make my forehead itch, the way my standard ag store cap did.

The people working in the store were sweet and helpful. They even gave us a free packet of seeds for our seed purchase. The cashier encouraged us to return during a festival (spring planting, fall harvest and tulip). We were escorted to our car by a friendly cat, who waited patiently while we stowed our purchases and it led us back to the village where we had lunch.

The restaurant staff was in pioneer costume, as were the seed store employees. Upon leading us to our table, our server offered us homemade hot tea (I think it was pumpkin spice) and water. It is a farm to table, vegan restaurant, usually with one or two options for lunch.

On this day, she said they could cobble together lunch from a squash dish, pickled veggies and vegan chili with cornbread sticks. She asked if we wanted to begin with homemade dumplings, served with savory and sweet dipping sauces, which we did. My companion and I are not vegan, nor vegetarian, but found the food so flavorful, even the meatless chili.

Dessert had options of duos of homemade ice creams and cakes. I had a fruit cake (not the standard) with dried fruit and a hazelnut-maple ice cream. And I sampled the orange ice cream and chocolate cake. Both were scrumptious and we enjoyed the candied orange peel garnish.

Be aware, if you have dined here in the past, it used to be at no charge and you would give a donation. The restaurant closed for two years and reopened in 2022. My last gourmet meal here was every bit as delicious. I would have appreciated knowing ahead of time, that this lunch was for a fee, however, it was so good that the experience did not leave a bitter taste.

Since it was cold and cloudy outside, I took a quick lap around the village, popped into the few other stores that were open in December and headed home, on pavement this time. I’ll be back with the spring blooms.