The Marjorie Evans Gallery at Sunset Cultural Center Presents: “Holiday Hope”

Nov. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- The Marjorie Evans Gallery at Sunset Cultural Center Presents: “Holiday Hope”

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA – The Sunset Cultural Center proudly presents our December 2014 gallery exhibit “Holiday Hope.”  In the spirit of the holidays and giving, Sunset Center has invited Creekside Farms, from Greenfield, CA, to exhibit and sell their holiday wreaths.  In addition, Creekside Farms will donate 25% of the proceeds to Voices for Children CASA on behalf of Sunset Center’s Classroom Connections program.

Creekside Farms will have 10 wreaths on display.  The Holiday wreaths will all be fresh and made from holiday greens, fir, pine and cedar as well as eucalyptus leaves, hydrangeas, and a variety of other fall foliage.  Creekside Farms is a family farm specializing in herbs and flowers, all grown naturally.  Visitors to the gallery may purchase the wreaths at the gallery or place a special order directly to Creekside Farms.  There will be an Open Reception where you can meet Creekside Farms family members on December 5^th from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the lobby.  Visit the gallery for your Holiday wreath and then attend the Sunset Center Community Holiday party in the lobby, also from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Larry and Carol Umbarger, owners of Creekside Farms, moved from Salinas in 1969 to a small ranch on Jolon Road in King City.  They wanted to raise their family in the country and have room for the 7 horses they owned.   After many years of raising horses and cattle, they were investigating ways to boost their income to cover upcoming college tuition and Carol was looking for a way to earn an income on the ranch and to be home with her family. She had been given a wreath made of sinuata statice by a friend and decided that would be an interesting crop to grow. In 1988 they planted 6 acres of sinuata, yarrow and other various herbs. After discovering a market for California Pepperberries that grow on the numerous trees in the Salinas Valley they changed from growing flowers to exclusively growing ornamental and culinary herbs.

Through marketing the Pepperberries to various stores and wreath manufacturers throughout the United States, Carol met a buyer for Smith and Hawken, and because of her relationship with Smith and Hawken, she was asked to help out one of their vendors who was making a Eucalyptus wreath decorated with their Pepperberries. They took on the job, learned to make a wreath that weekend and spent the next 3 weeks making 3,000 wreaths in their playroom. In their facility today, they are able to make 3,000 wreaths in 3 days instead of 3 weeks.

The wreath business then blossomed.  As the business grew and their children graduated from college, their children joined the business. After working on the Jolon Road ranch for 5 years, they rented the large L A Hearne warehouse on the 101 in Greenfield for their wreath manufacturing and continued to grow the product for their wreaths on the Jolon Road Ranch.

In 1999, they purchased 20 acres on Oak Avenue in Greenfield. In 2002 they started building a warehouse facility of 12,000 sq feet and it was completed in 2004. With the new facility Creekside Farms is capable of producing thousands of wreaths for many of the top catalogs in the nation. The majority of their wreaths are shipped overnight or 2nd day air by UPS or FedEx.

Larry and Carol feel very fortunate to have a family business where their children have been able to come back to the area after college to work in the family business. Their two oldest grandsons, Branson (20) and Bryce (16), are the latest family members to come to work over the past summers. Eight of their 11 grandchildren live in King City and attend schools in the Salinas Valley. Larry and Carol are almost retired, but together with their 3 sons, Allen, Aaron, and Scott and their daughter-in-law Teri, they plan to maintain a thriving business for the future generations of their family and the families of their valued employees.

Creekside Farms has provided several Local Farm Tours in the past few years. They appreciate the interest in the company and welcome visitors. Their website is www.creeksidefarms.com and their phone number is 831-674-1234.