Story by Lilly Parsley
Photos by Ella Oakley
As spring comes and temperatures rise, local gardens and farm sites like Briar Rose Garden and Ruby Branch Farms are opening their doors to the public. Rosemarie Wurth-Grice, owner of Briar Rose Garden, said her “little Kentucky farm” has allowed her to do what she loves while also offering locals the joy of nature.
According to the Briar Rose Garden website, they are open in season as a “You-Pick” berry and flower farm, which also offers freshly-made bouquets. According to the website, the You-Pick service allows customers to pick and cut their own flowers, directly from the garden.
Wurth-Grice, a retired teacher and published poet from Elkton, Kentucky, said she loved growing things at a young age because of her grandmother, who was an avid gardener. She said it only felt natural for her to become one as well.
“When you can go out and plant a seed, or plant a plant, and then watch it just grow and flourish and go through all of its cycles, it’s like you’re part of the whole cycle yourself,” Wurth-Grice said.
Wurth-Grice said she started selling flowers at farmers’ markets in 2012 before opening Briar Rose Garden.
“I just wondered if I could sell from here [garden]. So I started out with my son, who’s an agriculture major,” Wurth-Grice said. “I put him in the back of the pickup truck, and he sat at the end of the road with flowers and veggies and stuff that we grew.”
Wurth-Grice said that as her garden grew, people wondered if they could pick their own flowers. She said she started her “You-Pick” option as a self-service operation, and it has remained contactless.
Wurth-Grice said that her garden offers a variety of different plants and flowers throughout the year, including blackberries, peonies, zinnias, sunflowers, pumpkins, mums and evergreens. She said during the summer, they arrange back-to-school bouquets for teachers.
Wurth-Grice said she started selling tulips in the spring four years ago.
“I wanted to expand my growing season, so I started with the tulips. This last year and the year before, I planted 4,000 tulips,” Wurth-Grice said. “It’s been very popular so far.”
Joann Cowherd, Wurth-Grice’s sister and retired 911 dispatcher, said she started helping around the farm by assisting her sister with mowing, weeding and other duties. She said that the experience has strengthened their relationship.
“We definitely have gotten closer through this whole process,” Cowherd said.
Wurth-Grice said she would describe Cowherd as her “cheerleader” as she navigated running the farm. She said Cowherd provided a calm perspective when working together.
Cowherd said that the garden has attracted both locals and travellers, including many photographers wishing to come capture the garden for senior, family and engagement photos.
Wurth-Grice said there was an instance where a state representative from Colorado was purchasing flowers for funeral arrangements from Briar Rose Garden.
Wurth-Grice said that the community is the mission behind her business. She said that educating the public and giving an opportunity for everyone to enjoy nature, especially in an age of so much technology, is worth much more than the money that comes with it.
“I’ve had proposals out here. I’ve had people who have gone through grief, who come out and need just to be in a quiet place, surrounded by nature, and have thanked me for that opportunity,” Wurth-Grice said. “I love to see families out here with kids. They’re picking flowers or picking blackberries and that’s what makes it all worth it.”
Laney Snider, who owns Ruby Branch Farms with her husband in Franklin, Kentucky, also said that community is a driving factor in their agritourism business.
Laney Snider said that after meeting her husband, Drew Snider, they got married in 2014. She said that Drew Snider is an eighth-generation farmer, and they opened Ruby Branch Farms on his family’s farm in 2015.
”That’s a real test to marriage, to be less than a year married and open a new business,” Laney Snider said. “It’s been kind of interesting and fun to navigate, and I feel like it’s made us stronger as a couple, and it’s made the farm better too.”
Throughout the year, Laney Snider said the farm offers bouquets, self-service flower picking, merchandise, creamed honey and beef from their beef barn. She said they also share news about the farm on their YouTube channel and social media.
Laney Snider said that the fall season is a busy time for Ruby Branch Farms. They offer mums, pumpkins, a soybean maze, a corn maze and the largest sunflower maze in Kentucky. According to their website, they also sell evergreens during the Christmas season.
Sallie Starks, who is Drew Snider’s aunt and works on the farm, said that these different options allow everyone to find something to love at Ruby Branch Farms.
“It’s good when you have agritourism where you have more than one option, because not all family members are the same,” Starks said.
Laney Snider said that in 2023, she got the opportunity to visit tulip farms in the Netherlands. She said she instantly fell in love with the idea of planting tulips at Ruby Branch Farms.
“That just solidified it for me,” Laney Snider said, “When I got home, I told Drew, we’re gonna be tulip farmers, and a lot of stars aligned, fell into place.”
Although Laney Snider said she had little experience growing tulips, she was willing to try and beat the learning curve.
Starks said that tulip farming was a “leap of faith” for Laney Snider, but it has brought a lot of success and tourism to Ruby Branch Farms. Starks said that, because she grew up on the farm, it brings her a lot of joy to see the community enjoying it as well.
“You might not have the memories that I have as a little girl here, picking grapes,” Starks said. “But we want you to come to the farm with your family and create those memories.”
Sam Evans, an agriculture teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor from Campbellsville, Kentucky, said that he has enjoyed working with Ruby Branch Farms for his students.
“This is not a hobby farm,” Evans said. “This is a quality agritourism business, and they’ve been friends of the FFA.”
Evans said his FFA students at Franklin Simpson High School partner with Ruby Branch Farms for farm tours and mum fundraisers, and really enjoy the process.
“We actually come here with our FFA students, and we load mums up into people’s vehicles themselves directly, which we really like,” Evans said. “We like the foot traffic that brings people to the farm so they can see it.”
Evans said Ruby Branch Farms has served as an agricultural education tool for the community, and he has even had several students work for the Sniders.
“Ruby Branch [Farms] is a tool for Laney and the Sniders to make the impact that they would otherwise want to make in some form or fashion,” Evans said. “They have always supported us. But more so than that, they are becoming pillars of the community.”
Laney Snider said that the community impact has allowed them to fill a need for both locals and those who live in suburban areas with less agricultural opportunity. She said being able to watch families grow with Ruby Branch Farms has been a fulfilling opportunity.
“We are still farming the same ground that my husband’s family has for over 100 years,” Laney Snider said. “I think something that’s really unique about Ruby Branch as an agritourism farm is that we are, at our core, a true working family farm.”