Farm Happenings for June 29, 2022

Hello All!

Thank you for a successful first week of delivery! We got some rain and now irrigating the entire fields.

With Phanat this year we were able to get woven fabric that lasts life time to help weed control in the fields and also allow water to drip through the plastic. This year with so many challenges have made us wiser. We are learning every year as we go. We hope you enjoyed the addition to the farm with the eggs. We hope that we can aggregate more in the future allowing more varieties with value add.

But besides that this week we have Peas, zucchinni and garlic scapes and purslane to name the new items this week. We have a new interface so if you are not seeing items please let us know. We can see if there is extra for you.

Enjoy this summer!

Also if you are pick up feel free to ask if you need any additions and thank you. Next week we will go back to plastic blue bins so bring your own containers and those who have delivery please leave out your bins or boxes. You may keep the first box of delivery last week as your container for pick up or delivery moving froward as a courtesy box.

We want to reduce waste and want to continue using the blue plastic tuppaware.

Thank You!

Mhonpaj's Garden Tam

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

About the farm

Archive