Leslie Person Ryan is no stranger to the Montecito community. Her venerable Letter Perfect stationery store has been a fixture in the 93108 since before I first met her in 1988.
More recently, she turned her indefatigable energy to Summerland, which has had its share of challenges since the 2018 Montecito disaster.
The longtime entrepreneur briefly opened, and then closed, a Letter Perfect store that included a gallery hosting regular art shows. That business has now been consolidated at her Montecito store, at 1150-A Coast Village Road.
But realizing Summerland was a “food desert,” with no markets at the time (Field + Fort has since opened), she also launched Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers, eventually renting a vacant property across the street from Summerland Beach Café and expanding the business.
The day I stopped by for what turned out to be a big shopping spree, the stand was manned — with a mask — by food biz veteran Bonnie Nell while Person Ryan’s daughter, Ottocina, was dropping off fresh blueberries.
Person Ryan restocks the cart every morning. She handles her garden and partners with many Santa Barbara-area farmers who supply local fruits and vegetables.
A real plus are delicious baked goods, from breads to cinnamon rolls, and even pretzels from Makani Kirwin, who works for Beach Cottage Confections, a cottage food business at Person Ryan’s nearby farm. Bread is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Saturdays feature gluten-free and vegan items.
Person Ryan grows mango and herbs, and her stand includes passion fruit, pineapples, blackberries, heirloom tomatoes and potatoes. She recently obtained another seven acres in Summerland, where she plans to grow red, purple, blue, black and other specialty Oaxacan corn, chepil, heirloom tomatillos and wow cacao!
She makes her own jams produced from the raised bed gardens on her property, and is raising quail so she can sell the eggs, which she describes as “the most nutritious eggs there are.”
“By using Santa Barbara County farmers and distributors, I can keep the cost down,” Person Ryan told Noozhawk.
As if that’s not enough on her plate, she bought a food truck that is being refurbished in Los Angeles.
For her next act, Person Ryan is planning to reach out to local brands and artisans as they enlarge their customer base. Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the traffic on Lillie Avenue has been disrupted, but she hopes to provide a valuable local resource for healthy fresh food by making Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers part of the community’s everyday routine. To that end, it’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 4:40 p.m., and box delivery is available
With the help of social media and good old-fashioned word of mouth, the day I stopped by people were parking, walking by and queuing up — with masks and socially distant behavior — to take a home flowers, produce and mouth-watering baked goods.
Sweet Wheel, like its owner, is clearly on a roll.
— Judy Foreman is a Noozhawk columnist and longtime local writer and lifestyles observer. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.
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