Mhonpaj’s Garden

Website: mnvegetableorganic.weebly.com
Facebook:@mhonpajsgarden
Sign up for our CSA: harvie.farm/mhonpajs-garden

Markets 

White Bear Lake Farmers Market 
Mill City Farmers Market
St. Paul Farmers Market

About Us

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.

Products

• Tomatoes Heirloom, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, slicer, Roma
• Hmong Herbs
• Peppers(Thai, bell, sweet)
• Asparagus
• Lettuce, Greens, Napa Cabbage, Cabbage, Broccoli,
• Squash, zucchini, cucumber, parsley
• Watermelon, Winter melons, rutabaga
• Carrots, beets, kale, peas, spinach, Swiss chard
• Brussel sprouts, celery, celeriac, beans, corn
• Eggplants, onions, bulb onions, bunching, collards, kohlrabi, potatoes