O’Neill: Weathertop Nursery closes today

Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you’d like to write your own column for The Mendocino Voice, send your idea to info@mendovoice.com.

I don’t remember the first time I went to Weathertop Nursery, it was always there, a part of my childhood as much as pulling up at the old Chevron and hearing Rich Gravier say “O’Neills!” He’d draw out the O so it was more like “OoooooNeills!”. He and my Grandpa knew each other well, and his welcome always felt exciting to us kids. This was in the ‘80s, in the early days of CAMP before the green rush. Jordan Celso founded Weathertop, then sold it to Jean Marie Lagourgue, who sold it to Harv and Lurane. 

I’ll never forget the smell of the little shop at Weathertop, the scent of gardening supplies, plastic, light fertilizer and something intangible that made you think of spring, of growth. Ma took us there often, buying plants, tools, potting soil and fertilizer. We’d run around the rows of plants and look at all the tools. The smell of the Stutzman’s bagged chicken shit in the back of the Subaru stays with me to this day. 

I remember helping Ma turn over the garden beds, planting squash after the last frost in late May or early June. She loved gardening, loved growing things, tending her culinary herbs and flowers. After we got busted in ‘85, Pops put his energy into tomato plants, growing 50 or so in grow bags in the backyard and canning the surplus into cold-pack whole tomatoes and sauce saved in mason jars for winter. 

Pops’ excitement for the first tomato was infectious; he sliced the big red Beefsteak on a plate and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I was probably three at the time, and I remember the thrill of the new experience, and then the crushing disappointment when I tried it and didn’t like it. Pops was confused, muttering “it must need more salt and pepper,” but the subsequent application did nothing to raise my level of enjoyment. To this day I don’t like tomatoes, though I love growing them in part because of these childhood memories. 

Vehicles changed, kids grew, the bags of Stutzmans from Weathertop stayed the same, stinking up the Isuzu trooper on the way home from sports practice in middle school. I was fascinated by the plants, so many kinds, so many colors. Ma would explain the types of vegetables, she loved Portuguese kale, reminding us of her mother’s heritage with the huge, collard-like leaves made into a Caldo Verde soup. 

Ma ran the school garden at the elementary school with Binet Payne, and Weathertop donated seeds, tools and supplies. Each of the middle school classes would grow a bed of garlic, and at harvest time the total weights would be compared, and one class declared the winner at the garlic festival the school held. All of these memories run together in my head, hazy with time yet with the deep sweetness of connection and love. 

Harv and Lurane bought the store, and they were inseparable. You rarely heard one name without the other, it was almost one word, HarvandLurane. During the boom years Weathertop was there, the team strong like a family, throwing Customer Appreciation Days that were a combination of sale and party that Laytonville will never forget. When Harv passed, it rocked the town, a loss for us all yet most for Lurane, a splitting of the dynamic duo. 

Laytonville has known good times and hard times over the years of boom and bust cycles that have marked life on the North Coast. I was at a birthday party at the Garden Club recently and got to thinking about all of the halls and buildings around town that were built during the lumber boom days; Harwood Hall, the Garden Club, the Grange, the Fire Hall, the Oddfellows building. Times have changed, yet these structures remain for the use of the community in celebration of good times and mourning during hard times. 

Weathertop is part of me, built into my memories and the ways I’ve made my living in this life. Supporting my business and bringing the joys of smalltown interaction. You always know there’s no quick stop there because you’re gonna run into an old friend you haven’t caught up with in a while, and a half hour later you’re still learning on the side of the pickup and three other friends have joined the conversation. 

Weathertop has been an iconic part of our community since 1978, four years before I was born. A resource for farming questions, a method for spreading techniques and practices in a small town that relied on word-of-mouth in the days before you could talk about growing herb. Our town grieves the loss, and as the doors close today, a piece of our hearts go with it. Deep gratitude to Lurane and the whole team for so many good years, for so much support and care. You are loved and appreciated, and we all hope that whatever comes next is good to you! As always, much love and great success to you on your journey! 

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Casey O’Neill owns and runs HappyDay Farms, a small vegetable and cannabis farm north of Laytonville. He is a long time cannabis policy advocate, and was born and raised in the Bell Springs area. The preceding has been an editorial column. The Mendocino Voice has not necessarily fact-checked or copyedited this work, and it should be interpreted as the words of the author, not necessarily reflecting the opinions of The Mendocino Voice.