Derek and Rachel Pace, along with their three kiddos, live on and run Lemon Lane Farm in Raymore. It is a labor of love that began in Rachel’s heart years ago. They moved here in January of 2008 from middle Tennessee.
“In 2010, while pregnant with our first child, I remember being home when a news story came on TV. A local rescue was in a pretty dire situation with being over capacity, and so many animals at risk for euthanasia,” Rachel explained. “I drove up the next day and walked the aisles of so many animals in need. I settled on this tiny brown pit bull that we adopted and named her Hope.”
While she had grown up with parents who rescued animals, this experience really catapulted her desire to get more involved. She began volunteering with an inner-city outreach group. She noted, “That’s a part of rescue that can really change you. I would say this is how it all started. It was always the animals that inspired me. The flowers came after.”
Before moving to Raymore, the family lived in Lees Summit. While living there Rachel also worked for non-profit animal rescues for 10 years, then moved on to starting her own non-profit.
“We rescued hundreds of dogs and cats. When we moved to Raymore, I had the space to rescue farm animals. Our farm started with three rescued pot-bellied pigs!” she smiled. “We are now home to alpacas, sheep, goats, miniature donkeys, ducks, geese and countless chickens!”
She was fortunate to grow up with grandparents and her mother gardening, and in 2021 she dove head-first into flower farming. She traveled to Iowa for a flower farming boot camp at Pepperharrow Farm, read every book on cut flowers, went on agritourism tours, took online courses, and learned by trial and error. Now, they offer cut flowers May through October, homemade jams, local honey, produce, and herbs.
As a farmers market vendor, they sold flower bouquets, organic produce, farm fresh eggs, jam, pickles, candied jalapeños, hot sauce, and more.
“At our farm, we offer custom bouquets seven days a week. This past spring we added ‘upick’ to our farm. Something we worked hard on and are very proud of,” she continued. “While we loved our time at our local farmers market, it wasn’t where I envisioned the dream long term. Three years ago, I had a vision of a ‘store.’ I wanted a place for people to visit the gardens, make their own bouquets, and see all we offer. The animals had always just been our pets, and not something as part of the plan. It was always the flowers. But slowly everyone wanted to visit the animals, and our farm plan evolved. Now we’ve hosted baby showers, weddings, family reunions, birthdays, girls’ nights out, date nights, wedding showers, and so much more! Growing up in the South, I wanted our farm to give people more of a ‘feeling.’”
Rachel truly enjoys teaching kids the importance of animals, and how we should interact with even the smallest of creatures. She believes compassion is the most important trait when it comes to this, adding, “The smallest kitten, the flowers, the bees. They are all important. If I can have kids out to our farm and show them how we care for things, then I’ve accomplished my goal.”
Visit lemonlanefarms.com.