About Jere
Jeremiath C. Gettle is a young entrepreneur who has a passion for preserving unique and colorful ethnic seed varieties before they totally disappear, and for fighting those corporations which are destroying much of the earth's genetic heritage through gene-altering and modern agricultural methods.
Born in September 1980, Jeremiath says that he has been interested in gardening from as early as he can remember. At the age of 4 years, Jeremiath was planting his own garden of scallop squash and yellow pear tomatoes. At age 7, while other children were opening lemonade stands, Jeremiath was producing "play" seed catalogs. Later, he could be found at local swap meetings, offering a treasure of seed, stored in cardboard boxes and packaged in small handmade envelopes.
Jeremiath said that one of his favorite pastimes has always been perusing seed catalogs, deciding what to order for each year's garden; always wanting to try the odd and unique vegetables. "I looked through the different catalogs and bought the most unique varieties which were offered." Jeremiath's interest in preserving heirloom varieties really grew in 1990 when he discovered catalogs like Tomato Growers Supply Company, who had just started offering heirlooms. Also about that time he heard about Seed Savers Exchange; although he didn't join Seed Savers Exchange until 1996, which is when his interest in seed saving and starting a seed company really began in earnest.
In 1998, Jeremiath issued his own seed catalog. Now, other gardeners were perusing the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog. Jeremiath printed 550 copies of that first catalog, which consisted of 12 black-and-white pages, offering 70 seed varieties. Customers came by word of mouth and from advertising in rural farm magazines.
Since that time, his business has grown by leaps and bounds - from the early catalog circulation of 550, to the 2004 catalog, going to approximately 70,000 customers, and offering over 900 seed varieties, many of which have been personally collected by Jeremiath during his international travel to such countries as Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Mexico.
In addition, Jeremiath's Seed Company hosts two Garden Festivals each year - April and August - attracting gardening enthusiasts from across the nation. And in March of 2003 Jeremiath's newest venture, The Heirloom Gardener Magazine, published its Premier Issue! The Magazine has received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from other heirloom gardeners and those who share a this young man's dedication to preserving our food heritage.
[HOME]