PALMER — Growing vegetables can be more profitable than Rachel Kenley ever imagined.

The 18-year-old graduate of Palmer High School received a second place National Young Entrepreneur Award for her business, Kenley’s Alaskan Vegetables and Flowers. The award came with a $5,000 scholarship to the college of her choosing.

Kenley began her business in 2001 when she was just 11 years old. Her older sister was running a subscription vegetable delivery service, but she could no longer run the company after graduating from high school. Instead of letting the business dissolve, Kenley’s mom suggested she take it over with the help of her brother.

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Kenley kept the basic model, delivering a basket of fresh vegetables to customers’ doors each week. She started with just eight clients, but grew to 30 subscribers by the end of last year.

In 2008, Kenley partnered with her mom to add cut flowers and floral arraignments. They curtailed the subscription service and now focus only on farmers markets.

Kenley’s Alaskan Vegetables and Flowers has a regular booth at both the Friday Fling in Palmer and South Anchorage farmers market on Wednesdays.

“We now have 30 customers that come every week to one of the markets,” Kenley said.

They sell every type of vegetable she can grow in Alaska, Kenley said, all grown at their farm off Fishhook Road. She also tries some more experimental stuff, like artichokes and corn.

“We try to be a one stop shop where people can get all the vegetables,” Kenley said. “It’s easier for us at the farmers markets. People can get what they want without us doing special orders.”

As Kenley looked forward to her own future after the vegetable business, she saw an application in her councilor’s office. A competition put on by the National Federation of Independent Business and Visa Inc., was awarding scholarships for high school entrepreneurs.

She filled the required forms about herself and business and submitted it along with 6,000 other teenagers. Some 3,000 semifinalists were selected and then sponsored by a member of the NFIB. From a 1,000 word essay, 50 scholarships were awarded for $1,000, five for $5,000 and one for $10,000.

Kenley is going to use her share of the money on tuition at Utah State University. She is going to major in agricultural journalism and focus on writing, broadcast or mass communication. She plans on joining the Future Farmers of America at the collegiate level and will return to Alaska for the summers.

“I’d like to continue the business here, but I’ll be in Utah during the planting season and the end of the harvest season,” Kenley said. “But I will definitely get a job back here during the summer doing something agricultural.”

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.