I have been a fan of the Baker Creek Seed Company for years–in fact, my order of seeds for the upcoming spring is already safe in my spare refrigerator (safe from the mice that is) and waiting to be started in about 6-8 weeks or so.
So when I heard that the owners of Baker Creek, the Gettles, had a book coming out, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The book, The Heirloom Life Gardener: The Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally by Jere & Emilee Gettle with Meghan Sutherland is a lovely volume, beautifully put together, that distills the wisdom of the lifestyle that became Baker Creek (and for those that don’t know much about it, it is more than a seed company. It is a store, it publishes an heirloom gardening magazine and it puts on an heirloom life festival in Missouri every year) and is becoming the two newer businesses, the Petaluma Seed Bank, and Comstock, Ferre & Company in Wethersfield, CT as well.
The first part of the book talks about Jere’s childhood growing up, his adventures in searching the world for heirloom seeds, and a bit about the history of seeds in America. His philosophy of organic gardening makes it sound completely natural, as of course, it is. There is also some basic growing information on gardening, and some simple seed saving information.
The remainder of the book is an encyclopedia of different vegetables and how to grow each one. While most are not unusual, there are the occasional oddities like cowpeas, amaranth or sorghum. Farmers’ market regulars will recognize most everything in the book, but the varieties of the produce shown and the quality of the photographs, is what’s visually stunning, particularly to those who have never seen a Baker Creek catalog.
For anyone who likes home growing, this is a fascinating book. It also makes a great read to learn more about the new owners of one of Connecticut’s local nurseries because, as it turns out, he and his family are pretty amazing too.
