Producer
Lee's One Fortune Farm
Contact: Tou and Chue Lee
Address: 156 McKinney Road Marion, NC, 28752
County: McDowel
Phone: 828-803-1581
About Us
Lee’s One Fortune Farm is a small band of relatives that worked together in the traditional way of helping each other in growing food for our families. Our “farm” is made up of 12 growers of fruits and vegetables. Six of the families are also growers of our heirloom rice with seeds brought from our original homeland of Laos. Traditionally we help each other with labor to keep our expenses down and to get our crops in and out on a timely basis. Currently we are working two large tracts of land in the Oak Hill Community Park and Forest as well as our Dysartsville tract.
Our family farms and gardens have been here in the foothills of North Carolina for the past 40 years. We have been a group of people that mainly deal with our own community since our elders did not speak the English language well. This meant our produce did not get much attention or reach into the larger local markets. Our elders have been farming their entire lives that has given them the knowledge to grow the food they need for their families. Our family elders learned to work with the natural products available to create a fertile landscape to plant crops. Through a lifetime of farming, they understand the necessary work to achieve a sustainable crop and management of the land they have properly. We are seed savers and have many of our own heirloom vegetables that have been saved for several generations. Most of our crops have been in the Hmong community for generations and have a unique flavor that is required in Hmong cooking.
In 2008, we started Lee’s One Fortune Farm as a small entity to bring what we have into the local food seen. Our goals were to show our products, teach folks how to utilize those products, and show off how our family has been growing our unique fruits and vegetables. We wanted a business that would showcase the hard work of our people and their talents in making the best out of all situations. Our farm business has become the voice for our elders (who are very shy and reclusive), giving them an outlet to make an income. These individuals do not know the English language well and did not have other formal training to work in factories. Our farm business is here to offer our elders a means to keep on farming and have a meaningful life.
We are growing as a farming business and have had a small impact on the food seen in WNC. Our friends in the local community have had a positive response to our products. This has given us the opportunity to expand and develop more property into food production. Today we are managing more acreage for food production and will be expanding further, if we're able, so that we can meet the future demands of the region.
Our family farms and gardens have been here in the foothills of North Carolina for the past 40 years. We have been a group of people that mainly deal with our own community since our elders did not speak the English language well. This meant our produce did not get much attention or reach into the larger local markets. Our elders have been farming their entire lives that has given them the knowledge to grow the food they need for their families. Our family elders learned to work with the natural products available to create a fertile landscape to plant crops. Through a lifetime of farming, they understand the necessary work to achieve a sustainable crop and management of the land they have properly. We are seed savers and have many of our own heirloom vegetables that have been saved for several generations. Most of our crops have been in the Hmong community for generations and have a unique flavor that is required in Hmong cooking.
In 2008, we started Lee’s One Fortune Farm as a small entity to bring what we have into the local food seen. Our goals were to show our products, teach folks how to utilize those products, and show off how our family has been growing our unique fruits and vegetables. We wanted a business that would showcase the hard work of our people and their talents in making the best out of all situations. Our farm business has become the voice for our elders (who are very shy and reclusive), giving them an outlet to make an income. These individuals do not know the English language well and did not have other formal training to work in factories. Our farm business is here to offer our elders a means to keep on farming and have a meaningful life.
We are growing as a farming business and have had a small impact on the food seen in WNC. Our friends in the local community have had a positive response to our products. This has given us the opportunity to expand and develop more property into food production. Today we are managing more acreage for food production and will be expanding further, if we're able, so that we can meet the future demands of the region.