My job presents many opportunities to meet interesting people. One such individual is Petra Page-Mann. She is co-owner of Fruition Seeds in Naples and was in Geneva recently to help kick off a “seed swap” and is a main factor in the Geneva Public Library starting its own seed library.

Over 70 people attended the event. As she stood before everyone and spoke it was clear she was passionate about what she does. She cheerfully expresses her thoughts in a way that makes her quite likable and easy to listen to. Sort of a peace, love and happiness vibe that is very genuine and reminiscent of the hippie generation.

I say genuine because I would meet up to chat with her at length days later at Fruition’s 24-acre farm in Naples.

Petra, 40, laughs often and smiles easily and seems to have such an optimistic outlook regardless of any “essential crisis being her daily bread.”

Born and raised in Naples she always was keen on gardening even as a little kid watching her father tending the family garden.

As she grew older she would come to realize that agriculture was an intersection for a lot of her passions, which includes eating, growing food, dance, justice, singing, saving seeds and lastly the idea that farms can engage a community through various projects.

She would spend much of her 20s working at many small-scale organic farms across the........

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