Farming is a family endeavor for Veng, his brother Keng, and his mother Ka. Veng and Keng are employed full time so it’s Ka who spends many of her days on the ½ acre field of Sky Flower Organics.
“My mom’s goal is to grow for farmers market and to learn how to do that. I want to support her in that,” Veng says. “My goal is to specialize in one or two crops that I’m good at growing and to make a value-added product, like a hot pepper sauce or dry peppers that store better.”
This year Veng has focused on growing winter squash and peppers – Thai chili peppers, banana peppers, shishito peppers, and habanero peppers. His fields look like a painting, with flashes of red, orange, lime green, and yellow amid the dark green leaves of the hundred or so pepper plants.
“This is only my second year growing, but I’m working on finding ways to keep these crops longer. That could be pickling, canning, or freeze drying. Right now, though, I am just learning which varieties grow well here.
“I came to Big River Farms because my mom heard about it while attended an organic workshop offered by a previous participant. During COVID, we wanted to be closer to our food source so a program supporting new farmers really got us interested. The staff is very supportive.
“I was surprised at how intensive it is to grow food for yourself. It takes quite a bit of work to grow good quality food. Now I really appreciate the produce I grow. I’ve learned not to be so wasteful.
“Originally, I did not plan to grow organically. I just wanted to learn to grow crops. But organic certification is a good learning piece, interesting and eye opening. Now we grow organically for ourselves and for our local market.”
Where we sell
- The Food Group’s Farm to Food bank program, supporting local food shelves
- The Good Acre, LEAFF program
- Stillwater Farmers’ Market
