Green Thumbs

The Pioneer Press has a nice article on urban organic farms, particularly a group of deaf Hmong farmers in Green Thumbs.

For me, one of the standout elements was:

"In the farm garden, gardeners grow small fruits, herbs and vegetables for Farm in the City's community-supported agriculture program. People in the community buy shares in the organic garden and receive a box of vegetables and flowers weekly. Among the gardeners is a group of deaf Hmong men. Kor Thor, who has a slight hearing impairment, helps the men communicate with others. The men also have plots in the community garden.

"You can tell their gardens," says Benda. "They build trellises of scrap wood and sticks for their cucumbers and beans. They tend to have a gully in the middle. It creates a raised bed, which helps with drainage and makes it easy to get at their plants.""

As a writer, it's the nice little details like that that I enjoy reading, rather than just the bland non-descriptions people tend to give about these sorts of things. Who knows if Hmong Americans will be gardening like this a generation or two from now?