Jere And Emilee Gettle

Jere Gettle's passion for farming developed early, and by the age of seventeen he was in business, selling seeds from his bedroom in Mansfield, Missouri. He didn't set out to start an empire but to save eritage plant varietals from being lost to genetically modified mega plants—and to wave the banner for a way of life he saw rapidly disappearing. His seed company now employs more than fifty people full-time and includes a store, vegan restaurant, and pioneer village in his hometown of Mansfield, Missouri, as well as two other retail operations in Petaluma, California, and Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Emilee Gettle was in the garden at two years of age, where a love of growing vegetables was passed on to her from her grandparents and parents. She enjoys preserving the bounty from her garden and working hand in hand with her husband on the heirloom farm where they live with their daughter.