Farmer's Market Flowers Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. It's a feel-good farm to table story. My wife and I were at the Mill Creek Farmers Market recently when we walked by a flower vendor, tended by the nicest young lady, with the most beautiful display set up under her awning.
We struck up a conversation and discovered that 17-year old Chong Vang, the creator of these beautiful bouquets, immigrated to the U.S. with her family before getting into the flower business ...
CHONG VANG ... "Me: And your family came her from ... Thailand? Chong: Thailand, yes! Me: And, when did you guys move here? Chong: 2004! Me: 2004, so you were just little? Chong: Yeah, I was 4 years old when we moved here."
Chong says they were introduced to the world of flowers by relatives about 10 years ago ...
CHONG VANG ... "When we first moved here, we just helped around at markets with our relatives, cousins and aunts. We'd just help around, we helped them farm and then my grandparents and my mom and my dad just decided, hey, why not start a business of our own. So, we farmed with our relatives for like a year or so and then we just decided to do it."
The young, hard-working flower farmer says her summer consists of planting, cutting, and selling flowers ...
CHONG VANG ... "All summer-long. In the beginning, we'll have like tulips and all that stuff and then, that'll be over, and after that the lilies and then, that'll be over, the ending flowers are the dahlias."
Listen tomorrow and find out more about this ambitious young farmer, how she manages this family business, and, with college just around the corner, where she sees her future.
