Welcome to Cranky Puppy Farm!

This blog belongs to two Gen X-er's smackdab in downtown Kansas City where we've been renovating and decorating two old Victorians built in the 1890's. Our life is filled with 3 demanding Pomeranians (1 of them cranky, of course), honking cars, noisy neighbors and the hustle and bustle of city life but we dream of the day when we can move to our 40-acre farm and hear nothing but the wind and the cows next door. Until then, we're chronicling our triumphs and mishaps here as we try to garden and preserve on 2 city lots, raise chickens, and learn all those things we should have learned from our grandparents. Welcome to our world - we hope you'll stay awhile!

Scenes from Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

As promised, here are some pictures from the beautiful "town" and grounds of Baker Creek Seeds where J. and I headed for their annual Spring Planting Festival on Sunday and Monday.  They were expecting around 7000 folks to show up from all over the country and I believe it - we saw licenses plates from Minnesota, Alabama, and Illinois to name a few.

Baker Creek is nestled in the Ozarks and situated about 45 miles east of Springfield and a little over a mile north of Mansfield, Missouri on Highway 5.   Highway 5 is a little of a misnomer, as the pavement on this twisty road quickly ends and you find yourself on a very dusty country road.  Of course, Baker Creek would have lost cool points in my book if they had been on a paved road.


It was hotter than tarnation on Saturday, with temps in the low to mid-90's but a good breeze to cool everyone off.  The only time you really noticed the heat was in the buildings themselves.  The air conditioners  just couldn't keep up with the fanning of the doors from people coming and going.

A look inside the seed store at the racks of heirloom seeds for sale.  This rack extended the entire length and width of the building on both sides. 

When I saw it, I made a beeline for the seed store.  You could find just about everything and every variety in there, but I was looking for something they didn't have:  comfrey.  Not only do they sell seeds, but these seeds are from plants that they grow themselves on the property, so they are VERY knowledgeable about the plants.  Tomato and pepper seeds were just $1.00 this weekend so we picked up some Brocade Marigolds, Stupice tomatoes, Cherokee Purple tomatoes,  and Orange Bell peppers.  Outside, they were selling seedlings and some decently sized plum, cherry, apple and pear trees.

In addition to the seed store, the little town consists of the main house (scroll for pics of this beautiful house!), a vegan restaurant, Harriett's Mercantile (below), a livery\stable,  a flour mill, and some other smaller buildings.  It's not at all hard to imagine that you are walking the streets that Pa and Laura walked in the Little House books.

Think Harriet Olsen is in there?

No Harriet, and these ladies were much nicer than her.  I love the butcher paper roll on the counter - just like the old days.  On the other side of the room, a lady was handspinning yarn from alpaca hair.

How would you like to pack up everything you own in this little wagon and move across the country?  This is a perfect replica covered wagon that is true to size at 4 feet wide and 12 feet long.  That's about the size of a PT Cruiser!

Down the hill from the town was a huge area for different vendors to display their wares, which included handmade quilts and baskets, forged knives, gardens seeds and plants, custom garden tools and homemade soaps and candles.  No commercial stuff here!  Interspersed throughout were straw bales for lots of seating, water stations (which were busy!) and different musicians playing old time folk and mountain music.  That was really relaxing because we were serenaded as we strolled.

The craftsmanship in the buildings on the Baker Creek property were amazing.  Here's a small log cabin from hand-hewn logs that helds a pottery vendor who was actually making pottery as a demonstration.   At 6 feet tall, we had to duck to get through that door because people were smaller in those days.  Laura Ingalls-Wilder was just 4' 11" and Almanzo was 5' 4".

And I've saved the best for last.  Here's the main house at Baker Creek Seeds. 

Look at those quilts airing on the 2nd floor porch railing.  And I believe those are Climbing Blaze roses on the archway into the garden.  I want to live here!
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Baker Creek Seeds and will definitely visit again now that we know what to expect.  These pictures just don't do it justice in terms of how neat and beautiful this property is.  If you're within driving distance, I recommend you consider checking it out next year as a weekend trip.

I've got more pics to share with you in another post - these are from the Laura Ingalls-Wilder home that was nearby.  Hope you enjoyed our view of Baker Creek!





Sharing this as part of this week's Barn Charm Homesteader Blog Carnival and Barn Hop.

16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. We had a blast, W. Ansd there's something for the whole family to enjoy at this festival. I didn't mention it in the post, but they had chickens, geese, peacocks, and rabbits and they were really popular with the kids. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Oh my gosh, I am so jealous! That would be so much fun. I am glad you all had a good time :)

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    1. The grass is always greener, right? I see you're in Alabama and that makes me jealous! I love the South!

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  3. I had never heard of this and we are always looking for new and interesting things to do. Will definitely be checking it out.

    What a wonderful use for an old barn!

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    1. Always great to hear from a fellow Missourian, Deanna! You're close enough that you could make the trip to Baker Creek. They have Heritage Day festivals every first Sunday through October, but I don't think they're as big as the Planting Festival. Let me know if you go!

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  4. Welcome to Barn Charm!

    What an awesome lil town, love the bank & the sign... love the dark wood of the barn & the windmill in the background, cool shot! Also the house & the wagon, how amazing!

    Thanks so much for joining in & linking up to this week's Barn Charm =)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Tricia, and thanks again for Barn Charm. I saw so many old barns on the way down to Springfield that I never would have made it if we had stopped to take pictures of them all. I'm going to have to plan a barn trip just so I can have some pics to share with everyone on the Barn Charm hop.

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  5. I would not mind visiting this place!

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    1. I absolutely fell in love with it - it's an absolutely charming little farm tucked away in the Ozarks. If you go, you will never want to leave.

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  6. Gosh, I wish I had known... I've kind of lost track of Baker Creek after ordering from them several times. We didn't get much planted of what we ordered... we tend to stick with tried and true... but I admire what the Gettels are doing.

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    1. Oh, sorry, Mary Ann! Well, there's always next year I suppose. We're already planning our trip and looking at hotels, as they fill up fast.

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  7. I really enjoyed reading about your trip to Baker Creek. I'm from Missouri and I've never been to Mansfield or Baker Creek. The Springfield and Branson area are where we love to visit and I don't think Mansfield is all that far from there. I'd love to visit sometime, I loved Laura Wilder's books. Whenever we do go, we'll definitely swing by Baker Creek.

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    1. Hi, Cheryl! I've been trying to guess where you're at in mid-Missouri based on that barn picture that you posted today. I'm going to guess Booneville?

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  8. thank you so much for a visit to this charming little place! I could spend hours just looking at all the seeds! This is another great place I have to put on my bucket list!

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  9. Hi, Sall! You literally could spend hours in there. The seed store was probably 50 feet long and 20 feet wide and all the walls are covered with those racks from floor to ceiling (almost). The sheer number of varieties were incredible - they had sections of pink tomatoes, red tomatoes, purple tomatoes...you get the idea. If it hadn't been so packed, I would have spent all day just in that store.

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