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Mike Hesse of Mindoro, Wisconsin, rents 42 acres of land to Hmong and Hispanic communities. He’s been renting out garden plots since 2014.
A tapestry of market gardens is located on Mike Hesse’s farm.
Sandee Xiong rototills her market garden.
Sandee Xiong from Holmen, Wisconsin, stands next to her rows of sweet peas. She rents 1.7 acres from Mike Hesse near Mindoro, Wisconsin.
Sandee Xiong sells her garden vegetables at the farmers markets in Onalaska and Tomah, Wisconsin.
Sandee Xiong’s Napa cabbage plants aren’t doing as well this year because of excessive heat, she says.
Tong Lo Yang of Holmen, Wisconsin, works in her zucchini bed. She rents a quarter-acre from Mike Hesse. She said her vegetables aren’t selling as well this year because there seem to be fewer buyers and more people selling.
Sandee Xiong’s hot-pepper plants are thriving.
An owl decoy is used to deter birds from a market garden.
Bottle gourds grow from a trellis.
Gardeners erect makeshift scarecrows to scare off birds.
Market gardens seem common throughout the countryside. Gardeners are out with big, brimmed sunhats pulling weeds, hoeing, rototilling and harvesting.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini and her husband, Tim Cavadini, enjoy their 175-acre farm near Mindoro, Wisconsin, where they raise registered-Angus and Simmental beef cattle as well as horses and other small animals.
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Tong Lo Yang of Holmen, Wisconsin, works in her zucchini bed. She rents a quarter-acre from Mike Hesse. She said her vegetables aren’t selling as well this year because there seem to be fewer buyers and more people selling.
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