F L O W E R S F E E D T H E S O U L
Kasen Isaiah Kenny Amy
KIKA
We started a Flower Farm
My name is Amy Green and my other half is Kenny Russaw. We currently live in Burien, Washington with our two young sons Isaiah & Kasen.
The first eighteen years of my adult life were spent working as an interior designer in both the commercial and residential spheres. Life was centered around city living and I never thought much about returning to my roots. My childhood was much different, I grew up on a five acre farm in Port Orchard. We had cows, a horse, a barn, an apple orchard, woods to play in and an extremely large vegetable garden.
In 2019, I discovered the world of micro flower farming (on Instagram of all places) and have been obsessed ever since. Who knew flower farming was a thing, I always thought gardens were for vegetables.
My Roots
As a child I remember spending many summer days in the garden. My parents working away as my sister and I helped, mostly eating our way through the strawberries and peas. The garden was situated on a fairly steep hill below the barn. She and I would leap down rows gaining momentum from the slope. Each jump felt as though you were flying through the air then landing in a soft dusty pile of dirt.
My grandpa had a twenty acre farm on Whidbey Island, that he bought for sixty dollars at an auction during the depression. My dad grew up on the farm and we spent a lot of time there as kids. He had a hay barn where we would spend hours jumping off the bails and every evening we would get excited to go out in the pasture on the tractor to feed his herd of cows. I can still hear the sputter of the motor in my head and feel the bumpy ride. Today it is under new ownership as an organic vegetable farm, Sky Root Farm.
Fast forward to my thirties, we rented a small house in White Center that had a huge back yard on a double lot. It was the first time in my adult life I had lived in a place with a yard. So of course what did I do.......I tore up the grass and planted a vegetable garden! (With the owners permission of course) I loved being out there. There is something magical about being outside on a warm summer evening, taking the time to water your plants by hand. Just soaking up the quiet, alone with your thoughts and nature. It's therapy.
How We Got Here
In 2016 we bought a house and of course one of the first things I did was build a garden, 7 months pregnant no less. The following year we began a remodel to our home. As the inside became less pleasant due to the construction I found myself retreating to the backyard in my free time to escape the chaos. It was peaceful, sunny and warm. Several of the plants had reseeded themselves like tomatoes, tomatillos, lettuce and onions. I didn’t prune anything and let it all go to seed. Have you ever seen an onion bloom?
What I really was drawn to were the flowers and the pollinators buzzing around them. I began snapping photos and posting them on IG under my new account created for the sole purpose of sharing my backyard with the world. What I found ended up changing my life forever.
Flower farming is an actual job! I was captivated by this world I was newly exposed to. Micro farms, Urban farms, Food forests, Regenerative farming....I think the real word is OBSESSED. I began reading everything I could get my hands on, watching YouTube videos late at night and telling everyone close to me about all the things I was learning. Some would lean in and ask questions and engage in my excitement, others well, their eyes may have glossed over a bit and that's okay too.
Kenny's cousin's wife noticed my enthusiasm and offered growing space at her equestrian farm on Mercer Island. I feel extremely blessed to be working in such an beautiful facility with really fun people.
Back yard veggie garden 2017
The Book that started it all
My dad likes to tell stories, in most cases really long ones. The short version.... He was giving his cousin a hard time for growing flowers in her vegetable garden, "it's a waste of space you can't eat the flowers"!
She simply replied, "flowers feed the soul" mic drop.
My mission for our farm is this.......to be soul food for anyone that needs lifting. I feel like I am returning to my roots but applying my years of design experience and adding in modern methods of farming to create something unique and completely new.
The vision is to offer experiences centered around flowers. Making a place where people can come recharge, maybe learn something and walk away with an arm full.
The goal is to operate out of two locations, Mercer Island and our own farm in the Kent area once we can afford the land. In any case I feel extremely blessed to be doing what my SOUL is calling me to do, grow flowers.
The Vision
Heading into year 3
We are thrilled to be partnering with Mayesh Wholesale Florists.
Headquartered out of L.A., Mayesh is a major flower distributor in the US with 26 locations across the country. They are known for their unique blooms and amazing customer service. KIKA will be providing them with local Dahlias and a host of other beauties to be sent out into the world. We will focus most of our attention in 2023 on expanding in the wholesale market.
As in any business, you evolve and learn what works and what does not. We will be scaling down the Flower Bars to only 2 events this fall. However, we will be adding more U-Picks, Pop-Ups and weekly flower sales at the front gate. Our goal is to get flowers in the hands of the local community as much as possible.
