Flower Festival Speaker Schedule and Bios
The Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Spring Flower Festival, scheduled for April 6-7, 2025, in Mansfield, Missouri, will feature expert speakers sharing knowledge on heirloom gardening, seed saving, sustainable agriculture, market gardening, and health. While the complete list of speakers is yet to be finalized, attendees can look forward to engaging lectures that complement the festival's celebration of springtime blooms.
In the meantime, scroll down to learn more about our speakers, and be sure to check back for updates.
Sunday April 6
To Be Announced
Monday April 7
To Be Announced
Jason Brown
First Fruits Farm
Jason Brown is a former NFL offensive lineman who walked away from a multimillion-dollar career to become a farmer and philanthropist. As the founder of First Fruits Farm in Louisburg, North Carolina, he has dedicated his life to growing and donating fresh, healthy food to those in need. Over the past decade, his farm has provided more than 2 million pounds of produce to fight hunger and improve public health.
Beyond food security, Jason is a champion for conservation, family farms, and regenerative agriculture. He advocates for sustainable farming practices that restore the land and enrich the soil. Through his leadership, he inspires farmers to embrace stewardship of the land while ensuring the long-term viability of small-scale agriculture.
A sought-after speaker, Jason shares his powerful story of faith, sacrifice, and purpose at conferences and events nationwide. His work continues to bridge the gap between agriculture, health, and community, proving that true success is measured not by wealth but by impact.
Seth Shaffer
Red Clay Farm
Seth Shaffer is a farmer with over a decade of experience helping to run his family's farm, Red Clay Farm, and teaching sustainable agriculture to the students at Southern Adventist University.He has a master's degree in Sustainable Food Systems from Green Mountain College and is passionate about teaching agriculture. Seth will talk about cover cropping and why it matters for soil health.
Steven Murray
Rare Fruit
Steven Murray operates Murray Family Farms, an organic farm in Bakersfield, CA, where he grows about 700 species of more than 3,000 varieties of fruit. His family has deep roots in agriculture, and theirs was one of the first California farms to grow cherries. Over the years Murray Family Farms has grown to become a popular destination in Kern County. Steven has fond childhood memories of going to farmers markets with his parents and going around asking for rare fruits from neighbors. He has traveled to nearly 100 countries looking for rare and exotic fruits, and he participates in about 40 markets across southern California. He also plans to have some rare fruit for sampling!
Anna Marie Disipris
Sun and Bloom Farms
Anna Maria is a regenerative beekeeper, herbalist, farmer, consultant, and educator with a decade of professional experience in the realm of beekeeping, urban farming and community building around the farm-to-table movement. With Lucian Toma, she is co-founder of Sun and Bloom Farms, a regenerative organic farm and permaculture facility near Lebanon, MO. There they grow nutrient-dense fruit, vegetables, medicinal herbs, cut flowers, seedlings, and more. Her talk will focus on optimizing garden design for pollinators.
Lucian Toma
Sun and Bloom Farms
Lucian is an ecological designer, educator, and consultant with a decade of professional experience in the design, development, and implementation of regenerative programs in academic, government, business and nonprofit environments. With Anna Maria Desipris, he is co-founder of Sun and Bloom Farms in Lebanon, MO. Lucian has taught hundreds of workshops and currently serves underserved farmers with the Lincoln University extension office. His talk will focus on soil enrichment through vermicomposting.
Jason Delaney
PHS & PHS Daffodils
Jason is founder and owner of Professional Horticultural Services (PHS) and PHS Daffodils in St. Louis.
On about four acres of family land in Flora, IL, he tends to his prized collections of more than 3,500 varieties of daffodils, over 1,500 varieties of daylilies, and a few hundred varieties of irises. These are grown for small-scale production, breeding, and evaluation. He has been breeding daffodils and daylilies, as well as dabbling in trumpet lilies and crinums, since the 1990s. Follow his adventures on Instagram @phsdaffodils and @phsdaylilies.
Dennis Stowell
Melons of Central Asia
Dennis the proprietor of Tom King Farms, an organic market farm in Ramona, CA. He is also a renowned expert on the history, breeding, and cultivation of melons in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and other Central Asian countries. Dennis is a longtime friend of Baker Creek and has supplied the seeds of many melon varieties we sell.
Robert McGuinness
Leader of Baker Creek's Japan Team
Rob is the CEO of Knect, an import marketing and consultancy firm in Japan. He also leads Baker Creek’s Japan team, which acts as a bridge between Baker Creek and Japanese seed companies and breeders to acquire seeds for grow out and breeding projects.
The team has continued to build relationships with chefs, both high profile and lesser known, to develop recipes using heirloom vegetables. Rob will talk about the team’s work seeking out exciting new varieties, as well as some of the signature historic varieties of Japan.
More Speakers To Come
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