When Kenny Imel bought a slide at a school auction, his wife wasn’t sure what to think. But

Imel developed an idea as that slide began his greenhouse’s expansion into agritourism, now bringing hundreds of visitors to Greenup, Kentucky, each year. Imel started Imel’s Greenhouse in 1976 as a simple one-greenhouse operation when he was just 16 years old. Over time, the greenhouse expanded to include several buildings that housed flowers, shrubs, plants, ferns, vegetables and more. But, as the agriculture scene began changing, 

Imel took things in a slightly different direction.

 

“We wanted to step up our game a little bit,” Imel said. “You need to get people here. If the 

public doesn’t come, then you’ve got nothing.” Eventually, Imel added a specialty store to the greenhouse called Granny Annie’s, named for Imel’s grandmother, who was his first greenhouse salesperson. The specialty store sells Amish jams and jellies, old-fashioned candy, fudge, flags, wax melts and other home and food goods. Granny Annie’s also sells local honey harvested on greenhouse property.

“We do a little bit of everything,” Imel said. “Our sign says, ‘Thousands of things that will make you happy.’”
 

Imel also wanted to do something more for kids, so he added a larger playground area that began with the original old slide already on the property. Now, there are multiple slides, as well as playhouses, large tricycles, tractors and farm-themed games. The playground is free for kids during greenhouse hours. A planned expansion coming soon will create a new playground across the road from the current greenhouse. “The adults can shop, and the kids can play,” Imel said. 

It’s fall, however, when the greenhouse truly shines. Fall activities start in August with the 

selling of mums, pumpkins, straw bales and other fall goods. Imel’s is filled with fall colors and photo opportunities, including three big red chairs where Imel said many pictures are taken each year. Plus, there are animals for the kids to visit and feed.

“In the fall, we were still selling pumpkins and mums, but we had slack periods. When we added the new elements, the business took off,” Imel said. “People come from all different directions. 

They like to have fun, and we teach them and show them what we have. We have a lot of folks that go through here.” School groups also tour the greenhouse during the fall and Imel talks to them about farming. 

“Less than 2% of the population are farmers, so we talk to the kids and teach them about 

agriculture. Some of them probably think peanut butter only comes off the Walmart shelf. This gives them an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have.”