The Collector

If no one told you about Baker Creek Seed Company, you probably wouldn't know it was there-even if you're a native of the 417-land.

The place is tucked away three and a half miles down a gravel road, with only a painted wooden sign announcing its existence off Highway 5 just north of Highway 60 in Mansfield. It was started by a young man named Jeremiath Gettle, whose passion for gardening and seed collecting has made him quite the successful business owner, photographer and publisher. And he's only just about to turn 26 years old.

Jeremiath, or Jere for short, is a sweet young man. He's tall and lanky, fairly soft-spoken. And you get the feeling that he's a little bit shy. He answers questions thoroughly and knowingly, but he looks down at his hands while waiting for the next question. He talks about collecting stamps and coins, antique Western wear and records, and you can imagine him as a 10-year-old boy, playing cowboys and Indians and watching The Lone Ranger. But then he talks about his booming business and his world travels, and you remember that he is an accomplished business man, not a boy at all.

It began with a simple, innocent hobby of seed collecting. Jere remembers flipping through seed catalogues as a youngster before he could even read. He became fascinated with gardening at a very young age. His parents were definitely an influence. He was homeschooled his entire life. So he studied at home. And he worked at home. His dad especially liked gardening. And by the time he was about 9 years old, Jere had his own garden and was placing his own orders out of seed catalogs.

Before moving to Missouri in the early '90s, home for Jere was in the northwestern United States. Although he was actually born in Idaho, Jere spent most of his early years growing up in Montana. When he was about 12 years old, his family moved to Mansfield because they wanted more land and a warmer climate. Now they own 178 acres and live just across the river from Jere and his younger sister, who share a house about a half-mile from the store. Jere says he enjoys living on the Gasconade River and Baker Creek, as kayaking is one of his favorite pastimes. Just being outdoors in general makes him happy. "Especially when I was 12," he says, "I really liked to wander around the hills."

Now that he's all grown up, Jere likes to wander around the world. He's been to places such as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma in search of unique vegetable and fruit varieties. He brings the seeds back home to Mansfield, and he packages and sells them in his store at Baker Creek. I asked him how difficult it was to transport foodstuffs like that across borders, and he said it's actually kind of a pain: He has to have a permit, and it requires lots of paperwork.
 
He typically takes at least one trip out of the country each year, and he spends about a month away from home. And anytime he travels within the United States, he drives. He doesn't really like to fly. In fact, last year, he and some friends drove to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, putting about 10,000 miles on the car in 26 days. When he visits places he has never been before, he says he doesn't really have a plan. He doesn't know exactly what he's looking for or where to go. Just that he's looking for "varieties that go way back. The older the better." He says to find these things, he simply wanders around to various roadside stands and listens and speaks to local people. He says he often goes to small villages-for example, he visited Indian tribes in Central America, where they're still planting some of the same things they've been planting for hundreds of years. Sometimes he is successful. And sometimes he doesn't find anything at all.

Nevertheless, inside the store in Mansfield, Jere's collection is quite impressive. He has more than 1,100 varieties from at least 50 countries. Many of the seeds produce fruits and vegetables of odd shapes, sizes and colors. A few unusual varieties you'll find at Baker Creek include Tigger melons: originating in Armenia, very small, fragrant melons with bright red and yellow stripes; orange-flesh watermelons and giant watermelons-up to 150 pounds; and red, green and lavender yard-long beans. It's kind of like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates... Plant a seed from Baker Creek, and you never know what you're gonna get.
 
I asked Jere how much traffic the store actually saw, considering it isn't exactly on the way to anywhere. And he said really not much. But it remains open every day during the week except on major holidays. During the summer months, the off-season at Baker Creek, there are about eight staffers working in the store and on the grounds. They're there mostly there to answer the phones-30 to 40 orders are taken and shipped daily this time of year. (And remember, this is the off-season.) Late winter and early spring are considered the busy season at Baker Creek. During that time of year, Jere employs 21 people. Pretty incredible, but true. It takes that many people just to keep up with packaging and shipping orders on a daily basis.
 
So the question is, how did Jere become so successful so quickly? Timing, for one thing. Jere started the seed company out of his home in 1998. That year he did all the work himself, and he made virtually nothing. But the second year his business exploded. He did about 40 times better-it was pre-Y2K, he says, and people seemed to be especially interested in stocking up on heirloom and open-pollinated seeds in case something crazy happened at the turn of the century. And so the business he did in that year alone gave him the money he needed to open the store in 2000.
 
And it continues to grow every year as the public interest in heirloom fruits and vegetables has grown. Why? Two reasons, Jere says. First of all, good flavor. "People are really tired of the way produce tastes anymore," he says. "They remember it when they were kids, and they remember their grandma's garden. The tomatoes tasted good and the melons were sweet. Everything that they're shipping in from Mexico and California-it's picked green and shipped, and it just doesn't taste like it used to." Secondly, people are starting to get more concerned that the nutritional value is gone as well. "More and more allergies keep developing," says Jere. "And a lot of people think that might have something to do with genetic engineering, all the different chemicals they're spraying on the foods."
 
   As far as his diet, Jere is a vegetarian. He eats all natural foods. And he says he and his family get basically all of their vegetables out of the garden during the summer. And they relish it this time of year. Because in the winter it just isn't as good. "When you have to buy it from the grocery store in the winter, a lot of times it ain't hardly worth eating," he says. But he does shop at some of the natural food markets in 417-land. His favorites: Mama Jean's Natural Foods Market and East East Asian market, both on South Campbell Avenue in Springfield. His favorite restaurant in Springfield is Tong's Thai Restaurant. And he loves to cook and eat Thai and Indian food at home.
 
For now, Jere plans to stay based out of Mansfield, although he'd like to be able to travel more in the near future. Plus, he says he'd eventually like to live part of the year in California. He enjoys the coastal climate much more than the extremes of heat and humidity and bitter cold we experience in Missouri-in other words, the seasons. And he doesn't like the bugs here. In the next five to 10 years, Jere wants to open another branch of Baker Creek Seed Company in California. And I'd say based on his track record, he'll probably make it happen. Maybe even before he hits the big three-oh.