Montgomery farmer merges tradition with technology ♥

Published in the Courier-Tribune on July 21, 2011

by Hugh Martin

TROY — Touger Vang has come a long way since 1983, when his family left their native Laos as refugees following the Vietnam War.

He and his family are now farming six acres on Beaman Road, near Troy, with a mixture of Hmong tradition and modern technology.

Vang, 38, is a 1992 graduate of West Montgomery High School. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he works as an administrative assistant in the Department of Library and Information Studies and is working toward a master’s degree in Library Information. He divides his time between Greensboro and the farm, where his parents live.

The Vang family consists of father, Neng; mother, Yer; and their eight sons and one daughter. His brother, Touber, is a medical doctor with a family practice in Troy and another brother Tou “Thai” Vang is an assistant district attorney in Stanly County. Other family members live in the Seagrove area, while his only sister lives in Michigan.

“All of the family works on the farm,” Touger says.

After coming to the United States, the family lived in Alabama and Michigan before settling in North Carolina. Vang says that the climate in this area is much like their homeland of Xieng Khon, Laos.

Vang grows vegetables, herbs and livestock on nearly every spot of earth on the property that his family purchased from neighbors in 1992. Many plants that locals may consider to be weeds will have a use for the family and the people that purchase their products.

If you’re looking for nice, straight rows with acre upon acre of monoculture corn, wheat or soybeans, then you won’t find it on Vang’s farm. Every available inch is covered with plants.

“My father taught me to use all the space we have available to grow on,” he said. “When driving through cities you can tell where the Hmong families live because of the vegetable gardens in their front yards.”

Vang said two women take the produce to the flea market in Thomasville where there is a larger Asian population.

The herbs that are grown have both culinary and medicinal uses. A walk through the property brings discoveries of both common and more exotic plants. Duck feet herb, many different kinds of peppers, cilantro, gourds and more unusual plants are located all over. Luffa gourds hang from the trees.

Vang said his father does not believe in buying seeds, so seeds are saved year-to-year.

“He believes that destiny plays a part in what we grow — that a plant will grow if it’s meant to be. We share a lot of our seeds and knowledge with others because we want everyone to share in the successes.”

Vang enjoys showing his yard-long green beans, red okra with edible leaves, bitter gourds, chaote squash, lemongrass and Hmong cucumbers, which do not ripen until they reach a size not much smaller than a football. The Hmong cucumber has a mild flavor.

Vang has hundreds of vines loaded with the vegetables.

“I saw a seed catalog that sells the Hmong cucumber seed. They were charging $3 for five seeds!” he said, laughing.

Lemongrass root is boiled to make a tea that reduces fever. Cannas, thought to be pretty and ornamental here, are said to help heal injuries when the crushed root is mixed with lemongrass or cilantro, steamed, then made into a poultice.

Vang grows pumpkins and the family eats the plant tips as well as young pumpkins and flowers.

A row of tall Rose of Sharon hibiscus plants grows near the front of the property. The roots of the plant are used as medicine.

“I’ve had people drive by here and offer to buy the plants,” he said. “We are glad to share the small sprouts, but my father planted these when we came here and he does not want to sell them.”

What appear to be weeds have a purpose for Vang.

“This is pigweed that we use to stir fry or boil. Poke weed root is good for medicine, but you have to be careful because parts of the plant are poisonous after a certain age,” Vang said.

Pigweed and poke weed are considered a noxious weed by most farmers.

Plants that he considers weeds are hand-pulled or chopped out with a hoe. Chemical pest control is kept to a minimum and is used only as a last resort.

“We have a lot of deer, but my brother likes to hunt them, so we let them stay.”

Vang identified a green vine growing across a fence as a type of running spinach.

“The leaves of this vine will heal cuts. We can’t apply it directly to a cut because it will heal the skin faster than the wound underneath, so we ingest the leaves so that it will heal from the inside out.

“I tell these remedies with respect for my brother as a doctor,” said Vang.

“I was not keen on traditional medicine until I visited Thailand for fifteen months in 2004. I have learned that much of the Western medicines don’t work,” he added.

The family practices the traditional methods of farming that they brought with them; however, Touger has started incorporating new technologies into the mix.

Dr. Manuel Reyes, Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Design at N.C. A&T University, is conducting research on the Vang farm use of high tunnels.

Vang has installed two of the greenhouse-like structures on his farm, which will help extend his growing season through the winter, essentially allowing him to grow vegetables year-round.

The high tunnels have sensors installed that send messages via radio frequency to a computer that processes the information for the A&T researchers.

One of the research projects has tomatoes planted through holes in a plastic sheet. Data is collected data on the shade-growing process called “agro-forestry.” Shannon Creason, a graduate student, works the high tunnels, collecting the tomatoes and recording data.

“It’s hot work, but we are gathering a lot of information,” she said.

Vang said that he is learning from the process, that he wouldn’t have thought of the plastic ground cover or trellises for the tomatoes.

Preparing the food that is harvested from the property is another interesting part of the Hmong culture.

“We had never experienced stewing vegetables,” Vang said, referring to the Southern practice of stewing collards, cabbage or turnip greens. “We always stew meat with our vegetables. We use as much of the animal as we can. We do not like to see good food go to waste.”

The Vang family does not go to the supermarket from March until late October because they produce everything that they eat on the farm.