How about we go to a garden store? Or, what if the garden store could come to you?
Today we’ll meet an innovative young rural-preneur who has created a mobile system to bring vegetables, herbs, ornamentals and plant care information to the public.
Renata Goossen is the founder of Renata’s Garden in her hometown of Potwin. Her parents gardened, her dad raised tomatoes, and her mother’s family operates Henry Creek Farms, a fourth-generation family farm.
“I grew up in 4-H,” Goossen said. She tried the horticulture project and found that she loved it. “Our Butler County extension horticulture agent, Larry Crouse, was excellent at encouraging young people with judging and plant identification. Our extension agents influenced me greatly.”
“In junior high, I started a project I called Renata’s Garden,” she said. She raised special varieties of plants, created a catalog and marketed those plants to the community. “Thankfully I have great parents who were willing to drive me to deliver those plants when we went to school or 4-H functions.”
Goossen attended Kansas State University where she earned her degree in horticulture. “The College of Agriculture is really great at helping you find where you fit,” Goossen said. “I had great professors who helped me.”
