ERIN NEGLEY | Staff WriterFrom Butter and Sugar sweet corn to Thumbelina zinnia, thousands of seed packets owe their existence to Gwen Stefani and Boris Karloff.
Gardeners, it’s winter and still a bit early to plant seeds. There’s time to see how much and how little has changed as Rohrer Seeds, a 105-year-old Lancaster County company, packages many, many seeds for the season. Boris, Gwen and actor Lon Chaney play important roles.
Rohrer Seeds started selling seeds in Smoketown in 1919, around the time of Chaney’s breakout role in “The Miracle Man.”
These days, the company sells seeds to home gardeners, mainly throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Some seeds are prepackaged from companies like Renee’s Garden and Botanical Interest. Most are packaged behind the scenes at Rohrer Seeds’ retail store on Old Philadelphia Pike.
Related News: How to grow your own berries, beans and uncommon greens: Tips from a sustainable farming conference
The oldest seed packing machine at Rohrer Seeds fills hundreds of thousands of seed packs annually.
Seeds come to Rohrer headquarters from all over the world, says retail operations manager Jim Griesemer. Some like Dr. Martin lima beans were grown as close as Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum’s Heirloom Seed Project. The seeds are recorded, tested for germination and stored.
Packaging seeds for the next growing season starts in August, around the time gardeners are still harvesting their crops. The bulk of the work continues through March with a goal to have a well-stocked seed room in time for the flood of winter wishing orders.
Outsourcing the packing is a possibility but costs go up when seed is shipped back and forth, Griesemer says. That would also mean less flexibility, especially for surprise best-sellers.
“It’s not uncommon for us to have a variety that, for some reason, one year we sell way more than we did the previous year,” he says. “Well, having the machines here and having the staff to be able to pack, it gives us the ability to circle back and pack more if we have the seed.”
READ: 7 must-see things at Longwood Gardens this winter, including rare blue poppies
Packaging seeds with antique equipment at Rohrer Seeds [photos]
At Rohrer Seeds, packaging seeds for the next growing season starts in August, around the time gardeners are still harvesting their crops.
Dustin Zook pours peas into the hopper of a Holler seed machine. The machine packages seeds like corn, peas and beans plus bulk packages.
Meet Boris and Gwen
By mid-December, the seed packing crew was close to filling 250,000 packets just counting Rohrer’s oldest machine.
This is seed packing assistant Matthew Hofstaedter’s third year working with the Ballard Brown Bag Filling Machine and his second year running it solo for a full season. The machine is almost 100 years old. Most spare parts have to be 3D printed.
“They will require occasional complex repairs the same way a vintage car or motorbike engine would,” warns a Facebook group for the antique machines. “These are ancient machines that have been got back into working order but still very much ‘used.’”
When Hofstaedter joined the packing team, the Ballard was green, had extra parts and was cobbled together.
“Oh, it’s a Frankenstein machine,” he says. “And I like horror. I like Universal, all sorts of Halloween stuff. So I’m like: Boris Karloff. It’s a very nice, classy name. Everyone knows who Boris is.”
Some days, Boris acts up. Some days are better.
Typically, Boris packs flower seeds and some vegetables such as cucumber and beets. On a good day, it fills 30 packets a minute, by weight, controlled by gears with no numbers. Hofstaedter’s learned to listen for odd sounds, like scrapes or tears, signs that something’s wrong.
Bulk packages go to a different machine, a Holler machine with no date but old enough to sport “Made in West Germany.” It’s nicknamed Gwen Stefani.
“The joke is she ain’t no ‘Hollaback Girl,’” he says with a laugh. “We have very sophisticated humor in this room. Gwen Stefani will have seeds like corn typically, peas and beans, very big bulky seeds.”
The large seeds could damage Boris and wear down the vintage parts, so they’re handled by the Holler.
Packets are weighed to make sure they’re correct. The number of seeds needed for each plant and packet size are calculated to fit into the workday.
READ: Make a succulent heart, learn maple sugaring: 116 things for plant fans to check out in February
Packaging seeds with antique equipment at Rohrer Seeds [photos]
The bulk of the seed packing work at Rohrer Seeds continues through March with a goal to have a well-stocked seed room in time for the flood of winter wishing orders.
Matthew Hofstaedter makes an adjustment to a Ballard Brown Bag Filling Machine. The machine has no date but is thought to be from the 1930s or 1940s.
Now introducing: Lon
A rare new addition will soon help the crew. This one will produce 120 packs a minute and should improve "efficiency, accuracy, being able to pack more as our business grows,” Griesemer says. “Five years ago, we were doing 150,000 packets. We’re probably going to do 450 (thousand) this year. So, it’s substantial growth and interest.”
During a delivery holdup, Rohrer bought a similar machine from Seedway, another Lancaster County seed company. The backup arrived during busy season, so it’s not online yet. But there’s been time to give it a name, Lon as in actor Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces.
“The reason it got that name is because it’s different stations and different faces,” Hofstaedter says. “And again, you have someone connected to monsters.”
When it is up and running, Lon’s supposed to pack faster than Boris and handle small and larger seeds if needed. While many seeds can be weighed and packed, some need to be counted by hand, seed by seed. One of Lon’s attachments can count the seeds to prevent backlogs and keep the packets moving.
The hope is when the rush is over and the seeds are planted, in the packing room will be a cheer.
Want seasonal gardening articles and tips sent to your inbox weekly? Sign up for our Gardening newsletter here.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff Writer![This 1840 stone house has a walk-in fireplace, a mill next door and water running underneath [photos]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/0d/b0dd6c12-bb97-11ee-b90e-bb5e5da5b8a9/65b2804ba7a9b.image.jpg?resize=1662%2C1247)
