Farm Happenings for August 7, 2021

Hello Friends! This week exciting is corn and hierloom tomatoes we got it to come in this week.

I just wanted to share Phanat and my story. We were also featured on the podcast with MN350 to create more food hubs in the Twincities and a legislation for the Headwaters Bill to create awareness on how climate change is affecting our communities and creating more foodhubs buying local foods.

Here is the link the podcast is called " In Transition" is the episode Mhonpaj did a podcast on and our journey to farming. I will share tears, joy and our journey to our authentic career finding.

Food systems podcast - MN350 Action

Thank you for understanding this week for delivery we had some car troubles with the box truck.

Mhonpaj’s Garden is a 9-acre certified organic vegetable farm owned by May Lee and her daughter Mhonpaj. With 5 acres in Stillwater and 4 acres in Marine on St. Crox, May and her family grow a variety of vegetables, bedding plants and herbs.
In 1980, May, her husband Chue, their children and May’s mother immigrated to the United States from Loas as refugees. They found work farming conventionally, but when May’s mother was diagnosed with cancer after working with pesticides in the United States, May knew she needed to start farming organically.
May’s daughter Mhonpaj was connected with the Minnesota Food Association (MFA) and learned about their New Immigrant Agriculture Program (now called the Farmer Education Program). The Lee’s were accepted into the three-year program, which gave them access to the MFA’s 60-acre certified organic incubator farm, Big River Farm, and connected them with a Hmong-speaking coordinator who helped them find resources and answer questions about organic farming. Together they resolved issues ranging from drip irrigation setup to product liability insurance to insect control.
In 2010, the Lee’s “graduated” from the MFA program and went on to become the first Hmong-owned certified-organic farm in Minnesota. May and her family now farm leased land along the St. Croix River.

In addition to farming, May spends lots of time educating other growers about organic practices through the MFA and as a Master Gardener volunteer for Ramsey County. She and her family also share their culinary heritage through cooking demonstrations and classes.

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