Back to farm profile
Farm Happenings at Mhonpaj's Garden
Farm Happenings for October 3, 2020
Season comming to an end! Don't worry we will still continue to have Farm Stand open for pickups this season. How Farm Stand work is you can continue to order weekly.
The second thing is that for the last week. We ran out of red beets so we were supplementing some of your csa shares with gold1 read more »
Getting ready for Fall Festivities
Farm Updates:
The frost really got to our herbs and the outdoor tomato plants, zucchini and cucumber.
We are hoping to add some value add we just got our cottage food licensed through the city to do pickling and home made thai chili sauce. I hope we can dry some of our herbs!
As you are getti1 read more »
Whats Happening! Daikon Radish, Acorn Squash and Lettuce, Shallots are upcomming!
This week was eventful. Frost has bitten the cold. We wanted to first apologize we ran out of red potatoes and were supplementing with Yukon gold and fingering and the Broccoli Rabe version was the asian varieity so it looked more like a mustard green/turnip greens. We are also nearing the end of t1 read more »
Happy First Day of School!
Hello Members for those of you who are students starting school or families starting school. We are all doing some form of distance learning, hybrid or working from home.
Easy ideas for excess produce is I just freeze or blanch. Tomatoes I just wash and freeze.
San Marzano are really go1 read more »
Farm Happenings for September 5, 2020
Hello All!
We are hoping the squashes and second picking of lettuce is coming back and radishes! Some of you have had positive feedback on the veggies and thank you for continuing this effort. We are excited to introduce Ground Cherry last week and this week. It taste very sweet like candy.
T1 read more »
About the farm
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.
Go to farm profile
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.