The current home of Urban Farmer Seed Company
OK, so you’re ready to start your seeds, but where do you get them from? Mail order? Etsy? How do you know that these seeds are what they claim to be — especially if you are worried about their organic and heirloom provenance? Perhaps you grow some yourself — when you can.
There is a little place in Indiana that can solve that worry for you. It’s called Urban Farmer Seeds, and it’s located in a tiny, unassuming place just off State Road 32 in Westfield. If you blink, you’d miss the red, two story building with a humble garden out back. This is the heart of Urban Farmer, a non-GMO seed company that ships to all over the United States. The building houses the store which currently stocks 1000+ varieties of seeds for an edible paradise, homesteading supplies, and the normal urban farming supplies.
But it hasn’t always been that way. Noah Herron, a biochemist from Indiana University of Bloomington, gave up a corporate life at Eli Lilly to start Urban Farmer as his passion for gardening grew from a hobby to a full fledged passion-driven business. When asked how Urban Farmer got started, Herron quips, “I really liked gardening and always wanted to share my love of good, natural food.”
Their company is built around the goal of doing just that. They want to help preserve and improve heirloom seeds through natural farming methods while teaching the local community the value and benefits of local farming. They believe in this so much that they signed the Counsel for Responsible Genetics Safe Seed Pledge and teach others how to keep an ethical seed collection.
From nature with love
Noah compares how the seed packets have changed. The old style from recycled magazines on the left, the new, ecofriendly system on the right.
Urban Farmer started from seeds that the Herron’s had collected from plants they knew were organic and non-GMO foods – they came from their own garden. From there, they got creative with the seed packets that they used to send them out.
“My father used to cut out the seed packets with a ban saw. He would take 20 magazines at a time, and we’d sit gluing and folding the sides together to make the packets.”.
As the company grew to include more seeds from farmers across the United States, the characteristic seed packages got to be less earth friendly. They had to send the magazines out to get cut by industrial sized saws, glued together, and then sent back. A lot of waste went into the system. So the seed packets are losing their homemade charm to meet company philosophy of earth friendly and efficient, not to mention federal regulations.
As Urban Farmer grew, so did it’s customers. The people that stop by there have a love of nature, trading knowledge, skills, seeds, and most importantly a continued love of spreading enthusiasm for great food grown as locally as possible. This community is what Urban Farmer has strived for from its philosophy through it’s actions, and through the warm, welcoming environment of their farm.
Noah, the owner behind Urban Farmer Seeds is a quiet, yet enthusiastic man with a smile that encourages you to explore the wonders of the earth, get into the garden, and ask questions about what goes into your body. If you’re in the area, stop by. You’ll be welcome to come in, chat, and browse through a plethora of heirloom, organic, and responsibly grown seeds.
Noah in the Urban Farmer garden.
You can visit Urban Farmer Seeds
- Online or
- In person