#GSVMemberMonday Feature

Bee Merry Farm Skagit Valley was started in 2019 by Jeff and Melissa Brown, with the purpose of preserving 4 of their 5 acres as dedicated farmland. Their shared interest and experience in beekeeping and growing flowers seemed like the perfect combination to turn their passions into a small family-owned farm business. Today at their Mount Vernon farm, they grow a variety of flowers for florists and you-pick customers, and specialize in dahlias for both cut-flower and tuber production.

In addition to growing beautiful, seasonal flowers, they also sell honey, fine woodwork from their own woodshop, and a modest variety of products from select vendors. Bee Merry Farm is also a proud supporter of The Growing Kindness Project™.

When Jeff and Melissa aren’t busy working the farm, they are raising their two sons, maintaining their century-old farmhouse, and focusing on their daytime jobs in the education field; Melissa is a K-8 intervention teacher and coordinator of state and federal programs for her school district, and Jeff is a school administrator. Melissa is also the director of the nonprofit organization Ethan’s Smile Foundation. What once started as a hobby for Jeff; beekeeping now provides a valuable (and delicious) partnership with raw honey available thanks to the bees (and his) hard work on the farm.

We recently asked Melissa what we’ve been wondering of all of our GSV Members this year – What is her favorite Skagit Grown crop? Well, here’s what she had to say:

“I’m not sure if this pertains because it’s no longer grown here, but it used to be peas. When I was a teen I worked in the vegetable horticulture department at the WSU Northwest Research & Education Center, and most of July was spent harvesting and processing peas. I miss the smell of freshly harvested peas (and the sight of pea combines in the valley at night!). But my other (and current) favorite is pumpkins! We have some amazing pumpkin growers and pumpkin patches, making fall in Skagit Valley a magical place.”  

For the past few years, Melissa has hosted several you-pick flower events. With this year’s dahlia season now underway, the next you-pick flower evening will be on Saturday, September 2nd from 5 p.m. to Sunset with more to follow for the rest of September. More details on upcoming events at the farm and photographs of Melissa’s amazing dahlia flatlays can be found on Bee Merry Farm’s Instagram page. To keep up to date on the upcoming tuber sales and exciting events, be sure to subscribe to Bee Merry Farm ‘s newsletter too!

Thank you for allowing us to feature Bee Merry Farm as this week’s #GSVMemberMonday Melissa and Jeff, and for supporting the Genuine Skagit Valley program!