My name is Xe Susane Moua, a former California farmer with over 10 years of experience. We moved to Minnesota in 2006 due to my mother's health and a need for new change. My itch to go back to farming was due to someone who said, "You can grow in the winter." It sparked my interests again and so I applied for a USDA mini farmer's grant to pilot this first season growing in the city and in the backyards of local home owners. The objective is to grow locally, naturally (using organic practices) and sell it affordably to local residents of the area. By growing locally it will reduce much of the long distance transportation costs, storage costs, and long storage shelf life before it reaches your dinner table. This pilot project has a component to eliminate hunger in out local communities. By participating in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) you'll be supporting local urban farmers and contributing 10% of what I grow to our local food shelves and non-profit agencies that feeds the hungry.
THE CONCEPTION OF A CRAZY IDEA (WHAT I WAS TOLD!)
On Christmas Day of 2005, my family came from California to visit grandma in Minnesota. During the two weeks vacation, it became a stay-vacation. I was offered a job and we decided to move in the middle of winter. We went back to California and packed for 7 days and 7 nights straight, closing down our business and home. We hill billy packed the two trunks of our cars and drove to Minnesota. What a wild wintery journey! We arrived in February of 2006 and made St. Paul, MN our home.
Meanwhile, my mother has been ill with stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In October of 2006, the doctor's prescription of the day was, "Take her home and watch her die." So I took her home and was determined to watch her THRIVE. She was discharged with the Ensure bottles. I cannot to this day read nor pronounce the ingredients on the bottle label. So I thought, what if I imitate these ingredients with my own natural fresh and organic food. /So I did. Mom drank it and her body accepted the challenge of recovery road. Within a week she got better and within the month she recovered and thrived with energy and new found life with her family. She lived with us for a full year of joy, life and love. On December 12, 2007, we lost her due to complete kidney failure. So this story is to share that what you eat truly matters with your health. What I learned in the process of healing my mother was that any ingredient that we cannot read nor understand what it is; IT IS PROBABLY NOT GOOD FOR OUR NATURAL BODY SYSTEM. So it has made me change the way I feed my family and with what I feed my family. We have been feeling very healthy and good thus far with almost no sickness.
After my mom passed, I focused on growing my own organic food in my backyard in a raised bed of 6'X20'. All summer we ate from the small garden everything we love and shared with others. So in December of 2008 I came up with the CRAZY IDEA of being a farmer in the city. I was told by many that it is such a crazy idea it won't fly with a grant nor will it work. TRIED AND TRUE, IT WORKED! I applied for the SARE Mini Farmer's Grant and was granted the $6,000 to try this crazy idea and here it is to share with others that we can grow locally, organically, and affordably in the front yards, side yards, backyards and school yards.
