Mr. Shraby and I voted.

[shraby]

I think the Hmongs here are voting Dem. too.

[MineralMan]

1. The Hmong community in Minnesota votes blue.

My neighborhood is about 33% Hmong.

[shraby]

2. We have enough property behind the house that we let them have gardens

Anywhere from 4-6 ladies have pretty big spaces. They sure know how to grow gardens!

[MineralMan]

3. Absolutely they do. Here, the local farmer's markets

are absolutely dominated by Hmong growers. Some of them rent farmland that would otherwise not be worked. Then, they grow a wide range of vegetables on that land and sell it at the farmer's markets. It's like the old-style truck farms that used to be seen in rural communities.

They work hard to grow great-looking produce and in a broad variety of types. They also grow traditional asian crops, which provide wonderful opportunities to use vegetables you don't normally find in supermarkets.

In some cases, their work has led them to buy properties from the original owners and expand their operations. It's a terrific thing to see happening. Variety-based truck farming is labor intensive, so most landowners don't do it any longer. However, the demand at farmer's markets and from restaurants is high for specialty produce. So are prices.

It's working out well for the Hmong growers here.

[shraby]

4. We have 2 4x8x4 composts for their garden waste at the end of season, plus our leaves/

grass clippings/etc and open one side in the spring for black dirt for them to use. They like that.

We don't allow anyone but us to put grass clippings in it because we don't know if they've used weed killer on their grass. We know ours is clean.

[MineralMan]

5. That's very good of you. I hope they share some of

what they grow with you.

[shraby]

6. We won't take any. That's theirs to eat or sell. Until this year we always had a space

for ourselves.