Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Keith
Hi Kate, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started flower farming after deciding I wanted a change in the direction my life was headed. When poised with the question on how I pictured my life in the future, I realized my current life in no way reflected what I was hoping for in the coming years. My vision of the future included a little house in the country with chickens and my kids running around while I tended to the garden. A simple vision, but a fulfilling one. I wanted less noise from society at-large and more focused on family and time spent together outside.
My husband, already an entrepreneur, encouraged me to take a year focusing on honing in my skills in the garden selling what I could. There were more failures than successes. What did actually grow only had me wanting more. I took to reading every book I could, watching hundreds of online videos and buying seed trays and LED lights. I sold a few jars of flowers and gifted plenty more to friends. I focused on learning the proper techniques to enhance the soil and seeking out the unique flower colors and forms where I could.
Now, I operate Kate’s Flower Farm – an urban micro flower farm with chickens. The vision I had at the start has already started taking shape. We have our wonderful kids helping in the garden from seeding to harvesting and everything in between. We have a beautiful flock of chickens that provide us with enough eggs for ourselves and to share with our community. I grow flowers from seed and design them into beautiful daily arrangements. We are still working on a house in the country, but I am content with how far we’ve come.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
At the start, I struggled with getting certain flowers to grow and learning how to maximize the output of each plant. Plenty of seedlings died in their trays from lack of water or too much water. Many expensive dahlia tubers were eaten up by squirrels. A couple years ago, an entire row of 6 foot tall cosmos fell over during a later summer storm from lack of staking. My inexperience with arranging flowers was painfully obvious during that first year. Thank God for progress!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I grow and design floral arrangements for daily delivery in southeast Michigan. I am proud of the quality of local blooms I produce on my farm without any pesticides or herbicides. I grow my flowers organically for the best possible product.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
With creating and using a product that is solely reliant on the weather (frost dates, strong storms, wind gusts, rainfall, heat advisories), I can say that it has been quite the adventure! Each year is a different challenge. While I can’t say that luck has been part of it, I can say that I try to stay flexible and watchful each growing season to adapt as needed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katesflowerfarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kates.flower.farm
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/katesflowerfarm
