Elizabeth Spencer | Lehi Free Press

Nestled in the heart of northern Utah County lies a little slice of heaven for flower lovers. Kailin Beck opened Beck Farms Utah (BFU) to the public last year. The U-pick flower farm has fast become a community favorite. Floral Dreams come true in this small corner of American Fork.

“When I first began growing flowers, I mainly imagined selling bouquets. I never anticipated that people would become so interested in visiting the farm, learning how to grow cut flowers themselves, or participating in experiences such as workshops and U-Picks,” shared Beck.

Flowers entered Beck’s life somewhat unexpectedly. “I have always loved creating beautiful spaces and making ordinary life feel meaningful, but I had never considered farming as a career.”

At first, Beck wanted to grow beautiful flowers for her own enjoyment and well-being after a traumatic, very premature birth of her 30-week twins. Her sons were born the day COVID shut down the world.

After a few months in the NICU and a pandemic in full swing, growing became very therapeutic for Beck. It became an escape. What started with an overwhelmed young mom, a shovel, a very small flower patch, and a great deal of trial and error, growing flowers has expanded into something much larger than Beck originally imagined.

Beck slowly started growing more and more flowers and noticed that others started to enjoy what she grew as well. After adding several rows of flowers each year, Beck found herself with a full-blown, full-scale flower farm.

The farm itself has a long family history. Beck’s husband, Mitch, is the fourth generation of his family to care for the property. More than 100 years ago, his ancestors immigrated to Utah from Denmark, and for generations the property was primarily used for raising sheep. Although what is growing on the property looks different today, agriculture remains at the heart of the farm.

“In recent years, Mitch and I have taken on the care of the farm and begun giving it new life through specialty cut flowers,” wrote Beck. The farm is approximately six acres with close to two acres dedicated primarily to flower production. The other acres are used for livestock and house an old barn.

Once Beck began growing flowers, she became completely captivated by the process. “There is something almost magical about planting something tiny, caring for it for months, and then watching it become something beautiful that can be shared with another person,” wrote Beck.

Over time, Beck realized that flowers were not only a product people wanted: they created connection, joy, traditions, and memories. What began as curiosity quickly became a passion and eventually grew into Beck Farms as people know it today.

The farm grows thousands of flowers each season, including dahlias, tulips, ranunculus, peonies, zinnias, cosmos, snapdragons and many other specialty cut flowers. “I believe we are currently the largest dahlia farm in the state,” added Beck.

There is really no true off-season with flower farming. Greenhouse work, weeding, planting, harvesting, flower processing, and agri-tourism keep the farm working all year. Beck did not realize how many different businesses exist within one flower farm. On any given day, farmers may be spreading compost, teaching a class, hosting a u-pick event, creating social media content, managing greenhouse production, fulfilling wholesale orders, or fixing irrigation lines.

During the winter, Beck spends a great deal of time planning, ordering seeds and supplies, starting seedlings, and preparing for the next season. Thousands of seeds are started in their greenhouse as early as December for the next season. They also host seasonal wreath workshops during the colder months in our barn.

In early spring, the farmers begin transplanting out cold-hardy flowers and harvesting crops such as tulips, daffodils, and ranunculus. They also hold seasonal cut-flower plant sales for home growers and begin preparing fields for summer. Beck Farms Utah hosts many cut-flower growing workshops during the spring.

Late spring and early summer are some of the farmers’ busiest months. They plant thousands of dahlias and annual flowers, install irrigation, manage weeds, open the farm stand and begin harvesting flowers for local florists and other wholesale customers.

“During the summer and fall, we harvest daily. We operate our farm stand, offer bouquet subscriptions, host arranging workshops, welcome guests for reservation-only U-Pick experiences and sell flowers wholesale,” shared Beck. Their peak season is when their flower rows are full and lush from August to October.

After the first hard frost in mid to late October, the farmers begin cleaning the fields, digging, dividing and storing thousands of dahlia tubers and preparing the beds for winter. Then the planning process begins all over again.

Beck’s long-term goal is to create a beautiful, sustainable working farm that can remain part of their family and community for generations. “Because our family has cared for this land for so many generations, preserving its agricultural purpose is incredibly important to us. We hope to continue expanding flower production while creating more opportunities for people to experience the farm through U-Picks, workshops, and seasonal traditions.”

BFU is also slowly improving the property and hoping to develop additional perennial gardens, an orchard, and beautiful gathering spaces while preserving the history and agricultural character of the farm.

The business hasn’t come without challenges since farming is unpredictable and weather can change an entire season very quickly. BFU has experienced extreme heat, late freezes, windstorms, pests, crop failures, and unexpected equipment problems. Farmers spend months caring for a crop and can still lose much of it because of conditions outside their control.

Managing growth has also been challenging. BFU has grown faster than they originally anticipated, and learning how to build the systems, staffing and infrastructure needed to support that growth has been a major learning process.

“There is also an enormous amount of physical labor involved. The beautiful flowers people see are the

result of thousands of hours of planting, weeding, harvesting and problem-solving behind the scenes,” added Beck.

“Some of my favorite memories are the moments when we realized people truly wanted to be part of what we were building. I will never forget our first U-Pick night and watching people walk through the flower field with their families and friends. Seeing the farm filled with people enjoying something we had spent months creating was incredibly rewarding,” shared Beck.

Beck loves seeing her own four children grow up on the same land that generations of their family cared for before them. The farm has fostered delayed gratification and grit, which many youth may not understand in today’s fast paced world. They have helped plant flowers, sell bouquets, prepare for events, and watch the farm evolve each year.“Beck Farms has become v...

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