FARMERS: Home & Phet Manivong & family

LOCATION: Fresno, Ca

CONTACT:

GROW: Basil, Bittermelon, Cucumber, Eggplant, Lemongrass, Long Beans, Squash, Sugarcane, Taro, Tomato & more

WHEN: Sunday & Wednesday, year-round

The Manivong family has sold here for more than 20 years. Everyone in the family helps to run the farm and comes to sell at the market ... even the youngest generation comes to play under the tables. Mother Phet and father Home started the farm in 1986 after moving to the United States from Laos during the Vietnam War. Home had been shot and was sent to America so that he could have surgery. He had been a farmer in Laos.

The Manivongs are proud of their selection because they are grateful to their customers for their support and pay close attention to what they want. Many farmers let their produce ripen before picking it so that it is larger and heavier when it’s weighed for purchase, but Phet says she picks when the vegetables are still small because she sees her customers prefer tender, young produce. The best thing about being a farmer, her son Yommala explains, is that he can pick his family’s produce right off the vine and eat it. So he loves to share that fresh picked taste with his family’s loyal customers.