After three weekends of busy bees and people last month at the Hockinson Sunflower Festival at O’Keefe Farms, the sunflower patch is now full of relaxing, fun photoshoots and flower pickers — and more bees.
Patrick O’Keefe, a fourth generation family farmer on the property, with the help of his wife and kids, puts in a lot of effort each year to put on the flower fest. O’Keefe Farms was first established in 1882 and since then has been home to many eras of different agricultural production.
But in the 2020s, sunflowers have been the focus.
It is quite easy to show up to a sunflower patch, but what about all the work that goes into creating the space full of over 50 varieties of the annual plant? From seeding by hand to dowsing the patch with water, to enjoying the smiling faces; it’s not all that easy to be the guy behind the sunflower farm.
“I can’t put them all in a seeder and do the whole field,” O’Keefe said of having over 50 varieties. “So, I have a little walk behind seeder that does one single row at a time, and most of these I do like three rows together at a time, and then move on to the next little variety.”
O’Keefe said one row is generally 1,000 seeds with the border rows somewhere around 50,000 total seeds. To seed and have the sunflowers mature and bloom during the festival window in August, O’Keefe tries to get all the planting finished in April.
Once seeded, the name of the game is all about the water.
“They’re a very hungry plant, not only with nutrients and things like that, but especially with water,” he said. “Without a water supply, they would not even get close to this big. At the peak of the season, I’m putting down 4,000 gallons a day.”
O’Keefe obtains his water through a hydrant meter program where a meter is installed on a fire hydrant. He added that, luckily, he’s always had a fire hydrant in front of his house.
The idea all started during the COVID-19 pandemic to turn the area of his farm into a sunflower haven, but the fire hydrant and a steady stream of pollinating bees really made it all come together.
“So, fortunately, a mile down the road, I have the president of the Washington State Bee Association,” O’Keefe said. “We’ve gotten an education from him that the bees will travel up to 2 miles. Basically, this is a big restaurant for them. A few years ago, he came to me and he said, ‘OK, this is why my hives are still very active.’”
By the sunflowers bloom time, honey bees are starting to slow down since the berry bloom around Hockinson is at an end. So not only do the sunflowers bring enjoyment to visitors of O’Keefe Farms, the flowers also provide an extended honey production season for beekeepers in a 2-mile radius.
O’Keefe Farms, located at 17604 NE 182nd Ave., Brush Prairie, can be found online at okeefeflowerfarm.com and on social media under the farm’s name. O’Keefe said photography and sunflower picking usually lasts into October. For more information on booking a visit after the festival’s run in August, visit okeefeflowerfarm.com/contact.
