Conversations with Kayci Rosenak

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayci Rosenak

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been gardening and baking for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I always loved “helping” my grandmothers with baking and gardening. Baking has always been a favorite hobby of mine—I like to show people I love them by baking for them! After college, I started my own “garden” with three small pots of herbs on our apartment patio. When we moved, I was able to build a raised garden bed and grow a few more things—mostly veggies. Then we moved again and I made my first large vegetable garden and started learning about how to garden specific varieties of flowers. We moved once again a couple of years later, and I dove more fully into flower farming—still on a micro scale. We live in city limits and just grow wherever the sun shines on our 1/3 acre property! My husband doesn’t enjoy lawn care, so he’s happy for both of us when I take up more yard space to grow more flowers! 2024 was my first year of growing and baking to sell and running this as a business. In 2022 I began making sourdough, and I decided in 2024 to add that, as well as chocolate chip cookies, to my flower cart for customers to purchase. For the first year of running this as a business, I have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know different people in our community that I may not have crossed paths with otherwise! One of my main goals for Homegrown Flower Farm & Micro Bakery is to be a place in Lawrence and the surrounding communities that loves people well and always helps brighten the day for everyone who stops by!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Learning how to actually run and manage a business has been the biggest challenge for me. I love learning new things, but marketing is not my strong suit. I’ve been taking courses and reading all about strategies for how to run a successful small business.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
With the micro bakery aspect, I specialize in chocolate chip cookies and artisan sourdough bread (plain and monthly featured flavors). Since I operate this business every other week, I use the off-weeks to test bake and work on my recipes! Well do I only operate every other week? I’m also blessed to be a stay at home Mama to four young kiddos, so I need to keep this business sustainable with the rest of my life responsibilities.

On the flower farm side of the business, I specialize in spring flowers, such as tulips and ranunculus, as well as other spring flowers such as snap dragons and sweet peas. Ranunculus look like a cross between a rose and a peony. They are particular little divas that need lots of babysitting and attention—you have to do it just right, otherwise they’ll rebel on you. They may be a lot of work, but they are completely worth it for those lush, gorgeous blooms! In the summertime I specialize in various varieties of zinnias, as well as dahlias and a few other popular summer flowers, such as cosmos and sunflowers!

Our sourdough is all long cold-fermented, both to give it that awesome sourdough flavor and to help get all of those gut healthy benefits. Our flowers and foliage are locally grown here on site on our property without the use of toxic or harsh chemicals. We have our fresh flowers and fresh baked goods available at our flower cart pretty much every other weekend from April through September, and we offer our baked goods year round!

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
There are always so many things to learn in the garden, but one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way is to learn from every experience. Keep a journal or notebook, whether on paper or on your phone, to write down what worked well and what completely failed, that way you can reflect back on those lessons for years to come. And as a side-note to that, be ready to learn from others! Other people readily share about their successes and failures, so listen to them and learn from them. Knowledge is such a powerful tool to have!

Pricing:

• $15-$25 seasonal bouquets
• $10-$12 loaves of artisan sourdough
• $65+ Party Flower Buckets

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hotplate.com/homegrownflowerfarm
• Instagram: @homegrownflowerfarm_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1YEa5LC9Q1/