Portrait of a Local Farm: Lee Farm

Ia Lee and her husband Teng have been coming to the Millbrae Farmer's Market for ten years. 

The Lee family originated from Laos, where they lived in the mountains off of their own crops and cattle.  

They moved to the United States 30 years ago, during the Vietnam War, but with little education and a lack of knowledge of the English language they were unable to find jobs. 

Farming is what they knew. 

"We couldn't afford to buy land, so we rented," said third-generation family member Ia Lee.  

Not knowing what types of crops to plant or who to sell it to, they started out by working with a wholesale company, who offered them seeds to grow and delivery back as produce.

Their first crops were cherry tomatoes, green beans and snow peas. 

"After many years went by, we heard about farmers markets," said Ia. "So my husband went to the county and asked how to get certified to sell at local farmers markets." 

They then searched the Bay Area for open stalls at markets, which ultimately required a two-year waiting period.   

"Today we are running at three farmers markets – in Palo Alto, Belmont and here in Millbrae," said Ia.  

Taking the advice from other family members as to what types of produce to grow, the Lee's focused their efforts on Asian vegetables, including eggplant, bittermelon, long beans, bok choy, sinqua, opo and moqua. 

"Now we grow over 50 varieties of vegetables, including ten varieties of tomatoes, three of cucumbers, five of eggplants, the full range of peppers from Italian to Habanero and all varieties of herbs and Chinese greens," said Ia. 

"With no knowledge of the sales business, we originally sold our vegetables so cheap that our customer were amazed at the prices," she said. "Today we check with the agriculture for pricing, but it is still more reasonable than supermarket prices, especially since the produce is fresh and local ." 

The Lee farm is located southwest of Fresno, covering approximately 10 acres of land. The chores begin at 6 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m. 

"We pick and plant all of our vegetables by hand," Ia said. 

Lee farms does not use harmful pesticides on their vegetables, though they are not yet certified as organic. 

"Due to the hot weather in Fresno some of the vegetables require a lot of water and we do get bugs eating the vegetables," Ia said. "As we pick them, we only select the best ones to sell." 

This month customers can look forward to jujube fruit from Lee Farms, which will soon be on the stand for sale.

Check out produce from Lee Farm from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday at the Millbrae Farmers Market.