Rural Missouri - June 2022 - 25

by Jim McCarty | jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
At the same time, the move back to rural Missouri
M
arleen and Dave Prater never pictured themselves
running a flower farm. In fact, they never
expected to return to the area around Sullivan
where they grew up. But today they find themselves
surrounded by budding plants as they field calls
from eager customers who can't wait for the first blooms
to appear at their Turtle Hills Flower Farm.
Four years ago the two were living in Detroit where
Dave was CEO of an automotive parts manufacturer and
Marleen ran a boutique. Dave decided it was time to retire
and the couple began searching for a new place to live.
They considered Spain, thinking winter would be a lot
nicer there than in Detroit. Germany was a possibility.
Instead, they spotted a vacant house surrounded by
land near Spring Bluff, made an offer on it and won the
bid. While it was being remodeled the couple traveled and
pondered what to do with the newfound time on their
hands. " I traveled so much, " Dave relates. " We knew that
you can't go from 100 mph to zero. You've gotta have
something to do. "
created a culture shock. " We literally lived 8 miles from
Detroit, " Marleen says. " We could be inside the stadiums
in 15 minutes from our house. And all the restaurants
and up-and-coming chefs in Detroit. It was definitely a bit
of 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' "
Before the move Marleen had visited flower farms in
Michigan. She suggested they turn their pasture into a
field of flowers. The only problem was, the two knew little
more than the basics of growing a backyard vegetable
garden. " We started taking online classes because we had
zero experience, " Marleen says.
" We had a nice pasture out there, " Dave adds. " We
had water run out there. We had the structure set up.
We decided to give it a shot. And so the first year we were
surprised anything grew at all. "
He figures half of the seeds they laboriously planted
didn't come up. Those that did were often mistaken for
weeds until Marleen found a phone app that helped
identify the flowers. Enough survived to launch the business
as a U-pick flower farm and a bouquet subscription
service instead of the original plan to sell to florists.
JUNE 2022 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 25

http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - June 2022

Contents
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - Contents
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - 4
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - 5
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - 6
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - 7
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Rural Missouri - June 2022 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - June 2022 - Cover4
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