Seed catalogs have been arriving in many Walla Walla mailboxes for weeks because it’s time to start thinking about planting those backyard gardens.
House gardens have long been important in our region. French-Canadians at Fort Nez Perce in Wallula had large gardens and when Marcus and Narcissa Whitman arrived at the fort, they admired the melons that were grown there. Fort Vancouver provided the Whitmans with both seeds for their vegetable gardens and for their crops. In Frenchtown residents had grown potatoes ten years prior to the Whitmans settlement, and it would have been beneficial to have received seeds and “starts” from Frenchtown, but there is no record of this collaboration.
The Whitmans grew melons and vegetables in their garden, and Narcissa writes in her diary about monitoring the garden and mentions that they pick radishes for dinner. There were so many visitors on the mission that a large garden was essential. Narcissa wrote that “such a multitude of starving people passed by that they have pretty much drained all of our supplies except potatoes.”
Stockraisers Brooke and Bumford had a garden on the Whitman Mission Grounds after the Whitmans were killed. When Isaac Stevens was there in 1853, he remarked, “They harvested potatoes as usual, many weighing two pounds and one five and a half. Their carrots and turnips were also of extraordinary size. “
As early as 1861, the residents of Walla Walla were building important houses and tending gardens. “Health, Pleasure, and Profit” were the benefits of a well-tended garden, according to an 1863 article in the Statesman.
Where did these home gardeners get their seeds from? Gardening seeds and implements could have been ordered from Knapp and Burrell in Portland, but mail order was less convenient. So it was exciting when the locals heard that Phillip Ritz, who had a successful kindergarten in Corvallis, was going to set one up here. In 1863 he bought land south of the city and soon offered “all kinds of garden and flower seeds” along with trees, bushes and roses in his nursery.
In March 1863, the Washington Statesman noted “a number of gardens that are already in fair progress” and stated that some citizens may have planted in “hot beds.” Judge Kelly reported that he had sown a number of seeds in his hatchery back in February and was looking forward to an abundance of vegetables over the next month. A “garden plot and all irrigation options” was advertised for a house for sale.
Some fruits and vegetables could be bought. Frank Orselli, a very early settler, sold some products in his bakery on Second and Main. In the 1860s and early 1870s, the excellent products of Italian truck gardeners such as Saturno, Tachi and Villa, as well as the varied vegetables that were later grown and sold by Chinese gardeners, were not yet available. And then as now, the home gardener was motivated not only by the frugality of growing his own products, but also by the joy of maintaining a successful garden.
Garden council pillars were featured in the newspaper, and in 1863 it was recommended to plant cabbage, beets, carrots, asparagus and onions. It was also suggested to try the “vegetable oyster”. We call this plant salsify today; its roots and greens can both be eaten. As early as 1867, prizes were awarded at the fair for “merit vegetables” such as carrots, pumpkins and parsnips.
Despite Phillip Ritz’s reputation as the earliest seed supplier, George Starrett was not just a “seed dealer pioneer,” but one whose seed supply business lasted into the late 1950s. Mr. Starrett had other careers before becoming a nanny. He came to the valley in 1870 at the age of 40 and had previously worked for railways and in trade. His first wife died and left two children. In 1870 he married Leah, a widow who happened to be Phillip Ritz’s sister. It is likely that Mr. Ritz supported and advised his brother-in-law in his newly established seed business.
Mr. Starrett had a reputation for selling seeds of all kinds and being an expert in seed acclimatization for this region. He offered catalogs and price lists for flower and garden seeds and asked for orders from outside the Walla Walla. He also had a sister shop in Salem. The total area of its three seed farms was 152 acres, and one of the farms is depicted in Gilbert’s historical sketches from 1882 and shows a large outbuilding called “SEEDS”. The 1900 census lists two Chinese men, Ghee and Gee Gee, who lived on one of Starrett’s farms and were employed as gardeners.
By 1878, the Starretts had opened a retail store, a “Seed House,” on North Birch Street between the first and the second. George had retired in 1876 and his son WG Starrett became the owner of the seed business. WG grew up in the business and, as a child, had sold his family’s vegetables to the residents. WG Starrett and his family lived on birch next to the seed shop. Her neighbor was a local character, the widow Annie Mix, who was famous for her eccentric dress style and signature ruffled parasol. Known as a kind-hearted and generous person, she nonetheless enclosed her home with a 12-foot wooden fence covered with barbed wire to keep the five Starrett children out of her garden.
Gardeners could buy seeds from the Starretts, but they could also be supplied with spray pumps, garden drills, and cultivators. In the 1880s the “gardening industry” was strong and Starrett Seeds supplied the Italian and Chinese truck farmers and home gardeners.
WG Starrett, who lived to be 81 years old, had a reputation for being “unusually reserved”. People gathered at the seed shop to hear him rattle stories of events from the past. He recalled an epidemic of smallpox in 1872 and how in 1893 flowers bloomed and citizens mowed their lawn in early March. Dick Phillips has memories of visiting Starretts with his father Rodney, who always had a large garden. Instead of being sold in packages, Dick remembers seeds that were stored loosely in drawers. WG’s daughter Dorothea Starrett continued to run the business after her father’s death in 1935 and worked in the business well into old age. Dorothea was probably the woman Dick Phillips remembered and who waited for his father.
Not many people remember the Starretts, but in 1989 Woodward Canyons Winery, recognizing George Starrett’s importance in Walla Walla, dedicated a blend of Cabernet and Merlot to it. The Seed Depot on Birch Street disappeared in the late 1950s and is now a parking lot. George Starrett and his son WG, however, would be pleased that there are still many in the community who value the “health, pleasure and profit” of a home garden.
Susan Monahan is a volunteer at the Kirkman House Museum, where she gives tours and research, and in Ft. Walla Walla Museum, where she coordinates the Living History Program. Contact them at smonahan48@charter.net. This column focuses on people, places, and events from the Walla Walla Valley’s rich history.
