TAYLORSVILLE, Calif. — It was between the third and fourth evacuations from the Dixie fire that Kjessie Essue decided to be a farmer-florist.
She was already experimenting with growing flowers in her mountain climate and couldn't count how many reasons people had given her for why it couldn't be done: The summers are too short. There's too many gophers. The deer eat everything. The soil isn't good. The frost comes too fast.
Then came the fire.