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Sisters Nasteho Mohamed and Shamsa Mohamed sell produce grown by their parents at the Francestown Community Market. -
Fadumo Mohamed in the greenhouse in Dunbarton. -
Isho Mohamed with produce grown at Fresh Start Farms. -
Produce grown by refugee farmers at Fresh Start Farms for sale at a local farmers market.
Every Friday at the Francestown Community Market, sisters Nasteho and Shamsa Mohamed will be selling produce grown by their parents, Khamis and Khadija.
“Our mom is the real gardener,” Nasteho said at a recent market. “She does the down-and-dirty work at this huge field in Dunbarton. We help our parents with some of the communication and we help with the selling, but they’re the real farmers.”
The family, who originally hails from Somalia, are lifelong farmers.
“We have been here over 20 years. My sister and I don’t really remember Somalia,” Nasteho said.
Nasteho adds that she loves New Hampshire winters.
“I would never want to be away from where there is winter,” she said.
Nasteho said their mother usually works at the markets in the central and eastern part of the state, while she and Shamsa come to the markets in Francestown, Hollis and other nearby towns. The family is part of Fresh Start Farms in Dunbarton, a farming collective created by refugee farmers from the Somali-Bantu and Congolese communities.
“We help refugees; anyone who is really interested in farming, we offer classes and technical assistance, and we connect farmers with the markets,” said Jean Mugabo, program coordinator with Fresh Start Farm. “We have a CSA. We do wholesale markets like in Francestown, and we also have our own farmers’ market that happens in Concord. Some farmers in our program grow food only for their own families, and others are market farmers. For most of our refugees in the program, farming is the only thing they have ever done.”
Fresh Start Farms is part the New American Sustainable Agriculture Program, which is supported by the Manchester- and Worcester-based Organization of Refugee and Immigrant Success. ORIS helps new Americans who are refugees from war-torn countries resettle and acquire the skills they need to become self-sufficient.
This summer, Fresh Start Farm includes farmers from Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Nepal, and South Sudan.
“We have also had farmers from Ghana and Cameroon; it is always changing,” Mugabo said. “Right now, we have about 40 farmers in the program; we always have new ones arriving.”
Last spring, Mugabo reached out to Pam Berry, who runs the Francestown Community Market, to place farmers from Fresh Start Farms at the market.
“They have just been wonderful; they sell beautiful produce and people love it. We are very happy to have them back at our market, ” Berry said.
This month, Fresh Start Farms sells salad greens, including spinach and kale, and herbs such as parsley, dill, cilantro, which the farmers were able to start early in their 15 high-tunnel greenhouses.
“In this part of the country, it is too cold to grow all year, like our farmers are used to. When our farmers have the tunnels, they can extend their farming period; they can start in April or late March and grow through October and November, they can extend their season,” Mugabo said.
The tunnels were funded by the National Resources Conservation Services, but recent cuts have ended the funding for greenhouses.
“They have been so good to us; they help new farmers flourish in this country,” Mugabo said. “We can’t build any more tunnels now because the funding has been cut. We don’t know if we will be able to get more in the fall.”
Mugabo says farming is more than a business for refugee and immigrant farmers; it is also a lifeline.
“Farming helps people build community, helps them build their language skills and also and connect with their own community,” Mugabo said. “Farming also brings people outside in the summer, which is very important. Many of our farmers are over 50 years old, and they enjoy farming because it is physical exercise.”
Mugabo said the transition to the United States is a difficult one for refugees.
“The first five years are really tough for migrants. Farming helps with the loneliness and anxiety and depression for people for migrate,” Mugabo said. “Being outside and being with community is a huge benefit of the program. When you are an adult, it is hard to learn a new language. It is really nice for the migrants to be out and about in the community.”
According to Mugabo, farming is beneficial to the health and mental health of refugees.
“The number of hospital visits for migrants in our program drops significantly in the summer; they are much healthier,” Mugabo said.
The NASAP program provides all the support farmers need to take part in farmers’ markets.
“We provide the insurance, payment for the market, we make sure they understand how it works and that they have everything they need. We also buy all the supplies, the banners, table, chairs. Then they go the markets and sell their produce,” Mugabo said.
Fresh Start Farms also comes to the Greenfield Farmers Market on Sundays at Oak Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For information about Fresh Start Farms, go to freshstartfarmsnh.com.