From Laos to Lakeville: Mai’s Asian Vegetables

By Jillian Walraven.

Meet Mai Lee, a vegetable farmer originally from Laos, whose passion for cultivating Asian vegetables has excited local farmers market enthusiasts and brought a taste of Southeast Asia to New England.

Mai Lee’s childhood began at her family’s cow farm in Laos, where farming was not just a livelihood, but a way of life deeply intertwined with their cultural roots. Lao’s rich agriculture is filled with fertile farmland for growing coffee, tea, rice, mangos, papaya, tamarind, and an array of fresh vegetables. Over the years, her family transformed their farm into growing rubber trees, a profitable crop that is sold to China for rubber processing. 

Seeking new opportunities, Mai Lee immigrated to the United States with her husband 15 years ago, settling eventually in Brockton, Massachusetts. Here, she encountered a landscape vastly different from her homeland but full of potential. Determined to continue her agricultural heritage and live a healthy vegetarian lifestyle, she embarked on a mission to grow Asian vegetables with her brother-in-law’s guidance in a shared farm space in Lakeville, MA. Mai, a determined hard worker, travels 30 minutes to the shared farm space each day after her full-time day job to tend to the vegetables. She is hoping to receive a small farmers grant from the state to invest in necessary equipment and further expand her offerings.

Beyond the fields, Mai Lee’s vegetables is a bridge between communities. Local farmers market goers, intrigued by the exotic vegetables Mai Lee grows, flock to the farmers market to buy her vegetables. She is in the process of scaling up as some items sell out within an hour of a market opening bell. She impressively sold out of 40lbs of okra in 30 minutes during one summer market. Lee not only introduces unfamiliar vegetables like bitter melon, okra, and jicama but also shares her passion for plant-based cooking.

Mai loves to grow and eat her organic vegetables with Asian influence such as stir-fried water spinach with pole beans and rice, and makes Pho noodles often for her family. Mai grew up eating humble meals in Laos, such as boiled chicken with cilantro and scallions over rice. The simplicity in her family’s cooking reflects how she cooks for her children today. Her kids will exclaim “Mommy, it smells so good!” when she makes their favorite dish of fried beef, onion, tomato, scallion, cilantro, and lemongrass over rice. The fragrant scent of lemongrass alone, is mouthwatering.

Mai’s Vegetables summer crop includes Chinese long beans, green beans, bitter melon, squash, pumpkin, scallion, cilantro, mint, Malaba spinach, okra, tomatoes, sticky corn, jicama, garlic, onions, watermelon, pickling cucumber, amaranth, and lahlo (a bitter green popular in Haitian cooking.)

The challenges she faces to grow more exotic vegetables in a New England climate is a testament to the boundless possibilities of the native landscape.

Mai’s Vegetables can be found at the Brockton Farmers Market on Fridays, Dorchester Farmers Market on Saturday, and Canton Farmers Market on Sundays from May- October.

This farmer profile is sponsored by The Brockton Farmers’ Market and made possible through a grant from Massachusetts Agriculture.