Diversity Initiatives Underway

Funded in 2005 through the Farmer Rancher Grant Program, Pov Huns’ high tunnel project, “Can Screened High Tunnels Extend the Growing Season of Bitter Melon in the Midwest?” (FNC05-551) aimed to determine whether pest control and season extension could make a tropical vegetable such as bitter melon protable by using a high tunnel on his Kansas City farm.

On the Kansas City Farm, Huns and his wife strive to produce specialty vegetables that have medicinal value, as well as other rare Asian greens. Huns Garden serves a diverse customer base including immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacic Islands, as well as locals interested in healthy eating.

With funding from NCR-SARE, Huns was able to host a eld day on the farm. 25 people attended and enjoyed a cooking demonstration. Huns and his wife Chaxamone Lor gave on-farm tours and provided cooking demonstrations during the Kansas City Urban Farms Tour on June 2007, and Huns presented “Update on Tropical Plants in Non-Tropical Environments” at the15th National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference™ this past November.

Huns is optimistic about the future of this project. He is planning to share more information at theGreat Plains Vegetable Conference, the Wisconsin Farmers’ Conference, and host another farm eld day.

“While this proposed project addressed one crop, we expect that the season-extension approach being explored in thisproject may also be applied to many of the specialty leafy green crops mentioned above,” said Huns.

Want more information? See the related SARE grant(s) FNC05-551, Can Screened High Tunnels Extend the Growing Season of Bitter Melon in the Midwest?.