Bay Baby Produce Expands Line of Decorative, Edible Gourds, Adds Organic Seed

Bay Baby Produce continues to evolve its organic product line, investing in both innovative products and eco-friendly practices for its 700 acres of organic pumpkins in Skagit County, Washington.

Two decades ago, Bay Baby Produce (BBP) began as a business supplying adorable, hand-painted pumpkins as spooky decor. These pumpkins served as gifts and as “Ambassadors of Healthy Eating, Exercise & Fun” for kids, according to Bay Baby's website. Later, BBP developed more varieties of ornamental pumpkins as for creative home decor.

Today, BBP has become a one-of-a-kind supplier of a wide range of certified organic hard winter squash and decorative and edible pie pumpkins.

"Bay Baby Produce cares about the wants and needs of our customers as well as their shoppers and customers,” said Lindsey Lance, director of marketing for Bay Baby. “BBP wants to keep our eye on the ‘squash ball,’ so we're up to date with trends and offerings for our customers.”

Lindsey Lance, Director of Marketing, Bay Baby Produce

One of those trends includes demand for a new mixed box of Bay Baby's organic winter squash. These boxes hold at least four different varieties of organic winter squash, grown and packed in Mount Vernon, Washington. A QR code is displayed on the outside of these newly launched mixed boxes, leading customers to squash recipes on Bay Baby’s website.

Bay Baby Produce has also updated its selection of organic bagged products. These two-count packages feature spaghetti, acorn, and delicata squash varieties. Delicata squash is rapidly becoming the most popular organic winter squash from BBP, with the fastest-growing sales volume for the company, Lance said.

In addition to cheerful home decor and exotic varieties of winter squash, this innovative company is also participating in one of the pressing needs of the organic industry: producing organic seed.

“There is real interest in growing the organic seed market, but the challenge for seed producers is the demand side. If we want to see investment in the needs of organic growers, we need to see some increased uptake in organic seed among growers," said Jared Zystro, research and education assistant for the Organic Seed Alliance, an agricultural advocacy nonprofit. Zystro made his comments at the Organic Grower Summit in November 2023.

“BBP wants to keep our eye on the ‘squash ball,’ so we're up to date with trends and offerings for our customers.” - Lindsey Lance

BBP’s unique line of organic ornamental pumpkin seeds deliver a diverse patch of pumpkins. Shoppers can choose between best sellers like the pale yellow and orange striped Tiger Stripe; bright, solid orange Tango; and the pure white Casper varieties of palm-sized pumpkins.

If you’re looking for Bay Baby’s “most unique” pumpkins, try seeds for the tentacle-like Squidmo; round, white Snowbaby pie pumpkin; and self-explanatory Bumpy varieties. “We are developing our organic seed offerings as we speak,” said Lance.

Bay Baby’s location in the picturesque Skagit Valley means the farm depends on water from the Cascade Mountains. “This season, we are also keeping an eye on our water levels,” Lance said. “We rely on snowpack this time of year, and Washington is trending much warmer than normal. This means we will need to plan a little better with our irrigation efforts.”

And while Bay Baby's operation expanded into a 55,000 square-foot warehouse in 2019, additional organic cropland is harder to find. “Another challenge we are currently facing is organic ground availability in our area,” said Lance.

For now, this family-owned operation is focused on boosting sustainability measures based on its current footprint. Bay Baby Produce is interested in developing a composting program for waste as well as fresh partnership opportunities for product not suitable for retail.

“We are always looking for good outlets for our seconds in our organic winter squash program,” said Lance. “We always have some extra off sizes or some product with a little scarring that we would love to sell to processors or food rescuers.”