About a dozen chickens began squawking when Amy Green strolled near the coop at the MI Funny Farm on a recent afternoon.
Green chuckled as she walked by. A few steps further and her eyes lit up while she pointed at the multitude of flowers in bloom down the hill. Beyond the entrance arches made of climbing roses in pinkish-yellow hues, there are rows of dahlias, amaranth, cosmos, snapdragons, sunflowers, zinnias and more.
Welcome to Green’s KIKA Flower Farm, a 6,000-square-foot wonderland that has been nestled within the Funny Farm on Island Crest Way since she began planting and tilling up the soil in March. More rows of flowers brighten the landscape on the upper part of the farm, and there are two unused horse pastures that Green said might be filled with flowers next spring.
As Green strides amongst the flowers, she notes, “I like just coming down here and walking through here, and like the bees and the different insects you see, it’s just so calming and relaxing and beautiful.”
On the upper section of the farm, Carly Fromdahl jumps out of her golf cart after finishing a round of her caretaker duties for the Funny Farm and discusses the partnership between the two businesses. She’s been with the Funny Farm for three years and maintains the grounds and runs the daily operations along with the horse program. Currently, the farm houses 10 horses, those noisy chickens, three cats and a bunny.
Fromdahl is pleased to have Green join the team with KIKA, which Green runs with her husband, Kenny Russaw. KIKA is an acronym for their family’s first names: Kasen (age 4), Isaiah (age 8), Kenny and Amy.
“The flowers are beautiful. I think it’s really added a lot of color and happiness to the farm and makes it more enchanting,” Fromdahl said as she and Green matched smiles. “The farm already is beautiful, but it was lacking some color and some life. You can see the love in the flowers, so it’s been great to have it around.”
Green grew up with gardening in the picture with her parents maintaining a large vegetable garden. When she and Russaw bought their Burien home about six years ago, she followed in her parents’ footsteps by planting a vegetable garden of her own. Later, she took an online course with Erin Benzakein of Skagit Valley’s Floret and last summer got hooked on planting flowers around her yard.
“I just fell in love with planting and growing. I was like, ‘I need to be a flower farmer. That’s what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,’” said Green, whose grandfather was a cow farmer.
Green works at the farm three or four times a week and she and Russaw are searching for a property in Kent to expand their business. One morning last week, Green met with a group of florists who she hopes to sell flowers to, and she also sells her product to the public via bouquet subscriptions.
Inspired by Floret, Green gathers people from 7-9 p.m. on Thursdays for a Flower Bar, which features flower arranging and socializing with a tour, food, wine and music on tap. The attendees of her first event were buzzing with excitement about KIKA.
“I wanted to create something where people can actually come and experience the flowers, so be able to walk through the rows and just get joy out of that,” said Green, who noted that the next bar events will be on Aug. 19 and Sept. 2, 16 and 30. The Funny Farm will also soon be hosting a comedy night.
Green is relishing her role as owner of KIKA and sharing her passion for flowers with the community.
“I kind of have to pinch myself, because an opportunity like this just doesn’t show up. I’m so in love with the idea,” she said.
For more information, visit https://www.kikaflowerfarm.com/
