MOONBEE

ithin the rolling hills of Yalobusha County, 43-year-W old Kristen McKey is at work. Palm-first into fresh earth, she cares for her plot, which is filled with everything from sunflowers to zinnias.

Her business, MoonBee Flower Farm, is the result of big-city burnout. After studying Interior Design at Brenau

University in Atlanta, Georgia, McKey was tired of the city, its austere concrete jungles and rush hours.

“I was just looking for a change,” McKey said.

Fortunately for McKey, her parents had recently retired in Water Valley, and she was welcome to join. Her dad, a

Mississippi native, wanted to return to a quiet few acres after a 43-year-long career with Ford Motor Company.

McKey had never lived in Mississippi.

As she considered moving to Water Valley, McKey stumbled upon a magazine article on flower farming and enrolled in an online course on the subject. Her expertise in interior design – in creating functional, beautiful spaces – informed a hobby that would demand the very same skill sets. She was intrigued: and due south.

After starting her online studies in 2019,McKey quickly learned which flowers fare best in Mississippi heat (cosmos, celosia) and which ones do not (dianthus).

Opening page: A look at McKey's flowers in bloom. This page, clockwise from top left: Sunflowers; McKey on her farm; A handful of her work, ready to share.

She also learned the tribulations of a midsummer Mississippi sun, or the fear high winds can instill into a farmer’s heart.

“It can be difficult at times, especially when I’m trying to get everything done before the afternoon, when it gets extremely hot,” McKey said. “It's challenging when you hear about a storm coming up, and you're not sure if those flowers will survive. You just never know what's gonna happen.”

Despite the risk, the reward is high. McKey now sells MoonBee bouquets at the Magnolia Square Market, Water Valley’s bi-monthly farmer’s market, and via weekly delivery subscriptions exclusive to the town. Her designs are unmistakable: rich pink and purple florals studded with honeyed marigolds or fuschia celosias.

For all it is worth, McKee’s garden is labor-intensive. She is gladly pesticide-free, using only organic fertilizer. If a weed arises, she pulls it herself. If an insect pesters her work, she plucks it out by hand and places it in soapy water.

“I'm willing to do that extra step,” McKee said. “Just so everything's safe and I'm not harming any bees or butterflies.”

McKee hopes to stretch her skill set this year. She’s considering training for a Master Gardener certification, a certification which requires a combined 80 hours of teaching and community service in Mississippi. McKey also wonders what it might be like to offer garden consultation or design services – anything to help her community appreciate the craft she adores.

“I enjoy it so much, because I get to see [seeds] grow and produce over the summer,” McKey said. “And I get to see the bees loving them, and the butterflies and everything. When I'm out in the garden, caring for them, it's peaceful and colorful.”

As for leaving the city behind? McKey is content.

“I think that's what I was born to do,” McKey said. “To be in nature all the time. I can't imagine going back.” M

This page, top to bottom: McKey cares gently for her land. She is pesticide-free, and only uses organic fertilizer; A butterfly takes pause in McKey's flowerbed; Flower farming requires a lot of manual labor.

n 2016, Emilee and Brandon Kennedy purchased a 1990s I farmhouse on the outskirts of Tupelo.

The 1,800-square-foot two-story home had a bedroom, bath, kitchen, living area and a large bonus room upstairs – plenty of room for the two of them.

But a month after they bought the home, Emilee found out she was pregnant with the couple's first child, Noli Mae. "We had planned on adding on, but that news sped our plans up a good bit," Brandon said.

In 2017, they added two more bedrooms, a bath and a formal entryway. They replaced exterior composite siding with Hardie board, added a new roof and freshened the outside of the home so the addition looked cohesive. "We had somebody come in and frame the house, but Brandon did the majority of the work," Emilee said.

They turned the upstairs bonus area into a multipurpose area. Books line the walls across from a seating area, a small office is tucked under a window, and bunk beds anchor one end of the room. "The whole time we lived here, we worked on projects around the house," Emilee said.

In early 2019, Brandon's family gifted the young family a calf. "It was a twin," Emilee said. "A lot of times when twins are born, the mama will reject the first-born and nurse the

Opening page: The exterior of the Sonny Creek Farm house. This spread, clockwise from left: Rocking chairs on the porch are one of many southern touches throughout the home; The kitchen features subway tile; Wooden shutters contrast against the bright home; The Kennedy family, minus their newest baby. Photo by Lauren Wood Photography.

second one. They didn't have time to bottle-feed the calf, so they offered it to us."

That calf is now an 800-pound cow named Daisy. She is joined on the farm by four sheep – Elsa, Ana, Maui and Moana – a donkey named Olaf, and four laying hens. "Chickens are hard to keep alive," Emilee said. "At one time we had seven or eight of them." "That's what the donkey is for," Brandon said. "It keeps predators away."

As the farm has grown, so has the family. Noli Mae, 4, was joined a couple of years later by sister Ruby, who is 2. Emilee is now pregnant with Rosie, who is due in April. "One of the things we enjoy about the farm is being able to roam and play and hang out," Brandon said. "Emilee thought other people might like to enjoy it, too."

When COVID-19 came on the scene in March 2020, Emilee started talking to friends who lived in downtown Tupelo or in a subdivision with limited outdoor space. "They wanted a place to run around," she said. "So we started doing farm nights. I would set up a picnic table and a place to eat, and they would bring their own food."

The couple named the property Sonny Creek Farm, a nod to Emilee's grandfather, Sonny, and the two creeks on the land.

Farm nights turned out to be so popular, the couple started renting their outside space for birthday parties, field trips, and wedding and baby showers. "But it was still our home," Emilee said. "We still lived in the house."

That changed in October 2021, when Emilee's father gave the couple some family land in Mantachie to build on. "Right now, we're living with my dad until we decide when and what we want to build," she said.

This page, top to bottom: Sheep roam the pasture. Photo by Lauren Wood Photography; Emilee features a handful of local artwork throughout the home; The porch is a quiet respite overlooking the creek. Photo by Lauren Wood Photography. Next page: Emilee frequently decorates the space with flowers she grows herself.

"Until we can figure out what our future is going to be," said Brandon, an electrical engineer with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

To earn some income, and because Emilee can't resist a project, the couple decided to turn Sonny Creek Farm into an airbnb, which Emilee manages. "You have to rent the whole house," Emilee said. "A lot of people like the 20 acres of land that comes with it."

The cost is $400 per night, possibly a little more on holidays and weekends. Guests are treated to Tupelo River coffee, fresh eggs from the chickens, and a handwritten note from Emilee.

The original bedroom has a double bed. One of the new bedrooms has twin beds, and the master bedroom has a king. The kitchen is equipped with a fridge, stove, dishwasher, microwave and double farm sink.

A lot of the furniture in the home is antique, including several family pieces, like an upright piano and an intricate gold mirror. "A lot of the original artwork in the house is from local artists and for sale to guests," Emilee said.

The artists include Tracie Johnston, Jene King, Amy Crabb, Shelby Prather and Julia Monts, all of Tupelo; Kimberly Allred of Georgia, formerly of Tupelo; and Alanna Brooke Osborne of Baldwyn.

The outside touches are as charming as those inside the home. The couple laid bricks and built a pergola for a seating area, complete with Edison lights and a fire pit.

Garden boxes are built from cypress from Emilee's grandparents' house, and a screened-in porch on one side of the home keeps mosquitoes at bay.

Nearby are blueberry bushes, apple trees and pear trees, and a single magnolia tree. "Noli Mae's real name is Magnolia," Emilee said. "My dad gifted us a magnolia tree when she was born. It's been neat to watch it, and the farm, grow." M

This page: Farm animals bring life to Sonny Creek. Photo by Lauren Wood Photography.

This spread: Various arrangements Dowell has prepared. All the flowers were grown on her flower farm in Starkville, PetalRow.

ecause 80% of flowers in the US are importB ed, there are only certain assortments you can get from a grocery store or florist. Most flowers are unable to handle the elements when shipped, which leaves consumers with a limited variety of options to choose from - unless you’re buying locally.

Knowing this, Mary Dowell tends to grow most of her crops from seed, offering a wider selection of flowers when it comes to her garden and Starkvillebased business, PetalRow.

Dowell, a mother of four, recently retired critical care nurse, and now, a flower farmer, started out like any other. She didn’t have any knowledge on how to grow something. But when Spring 2020 rolled around, she took a small hobby to another level and grew a flower farm out of her backyard.

“I knew nothing,” Dowell said. “I wasn’t even trying to be a flower farmer. I found these things because I was pursuing weird hobbies like everybody else. Then, the next thing I knew, I was looking up YouTube videos on how to grow them.”

When Dowell started planting in her backyard, she had less than 600 square-feet of growing space. While that might seem a bit small, flowers are actually the most lucrative crop per acre one can grow.

However, they can be a bit tricky when it comes down to the harvest, having to be harvested at a very specific time of day. Plants ultimately need to maintain a quota of daylight in order to actively grow. So, if you harvest in the middle of the day, you risk shortening their vase life. Because flowers absorb the most water at night, they are the most hydrated early in the morning. And since you want to harvest them at the coolest time of day, mornings are usually the best.

A lot of time, hard work and sweat goes into this type of business. Not only is it a lot of work to harvest all the flowers, but they must also be properly conditioned, designed and arranged. Since Dowell tends to grow most of her crops from seed, she also

This page, clockwise from top: The Dowell family; Some of Dowell's materials to create a bouquet with; Flowers in bloom at PetalRow; Dowell's son helps water her flower beds.

had to learn how to soil block, or compress her soil mixture, on top of everything else.

“I think people romanticize it,” Dowell said. “It’s something that sounds so magical, walking through a field of beautiful flowers, and it is, but it’s also very dirty work.”

Yet, all of this hard work is what Dowell enjoys most. She loves being outside, and so do her kids. Having that outlet is the perfect way for her to spend time with her family while bringing something unique to her community.

“Even though it’s difficult sometimes – the business creation, community connection, the growing, and of course, even the building and designing of the bouquets and stuff – it’s all a creative outlet for me,” Dowell said. “That’s really why I started this to begin with.”

Dowell has always had an interest in growing things and nurturing their beauty. Years before PetalRow took off, Dowell was married and raising her first two children. The family lived in a tiny, 900-square foot apartment as she and her husband paid off student loans. Like most, she started off with house plants. Yet it was here, gardening in this little space, that she learned the importance of finding peace and happiness in the smaller things: such as with flowers.

“I think people underestimate how much joy something as simple as a flower can bring,” Dowell said. “We use flowers to celebrate all of the big moments in our lives, but maybe, our little moments will become bigger moments if we start to include more of them in our dayto-day life.”

For Dowell, gardening has taught her much about herself and her life, highlighting certain aspects she never thought to look at before.

“Gardening helps you get in touch with nature and the seasons and learning to appreciate the special aspects of each,” Dowell said. “Once you start seeing yourself accomplish something that counts, it gives you infinite energy to keep going.”

Just like her plants, Dowell’s passion for gardening grew until it spilled over from hobby to business. However, she never lets herself lose sight of what’s important: finding joy in the small things. Whether or not you find those simple moments in gardening, Dowell knows it’s important to find that joy somewhere.

“It’s great to have goals and you should be challenging yourself, but I’ve found the main key to enjoying the journey as I pursue my goals is to make up my mind to be content and grateful, whatever the circumstances,” Dowell said. “I think more people need to find little things that they can do every day that brings them joy.” M