Growing a Healthy Business

Few people know the challenges and intrigue behind Farmer Kim’s ready smile as she greets customers. RUSTY DURHAM

Microgreen farmer has bigger than life story

BY ELLEN GILLETTE

Microgreens — baby vegetable and fruit plants — have been used since ancient times to enhance the color, texture and taste of food. Chefs in the United States began experimenting with them in high-end restaurants during the 1980s but, with today’s focus on healthy eating, microgreens have become more available to the public.

PSL Microgreens Farm is a bit of a baby itself. Kim Snow moved to Port St. Lucie about a year ago with her husband Michael. In the case of her business, however, PSL stands for Pure, Sustainable, Local. Storage and shipping can affect the nutritional value of the delicate greens, so buying direct ensures the finest quality.

Holly Gilbert is a regular customer. She met Kim when they were both vendors at Fort Pierce’s Farmer’s Market. “We like to share back and forth — it’s a very symbiotic relationship. I give her juice, and she gives me microgreens.”

Snow’s journey to St. Lucie County is as vibrant as the microgreens she grows and sells. 

As a child in Burma — now called Myanmar — Snow and her mother sometimes talked about leaving their home. The country, one of the most impoverished in the world, experienced constant turmoil and political unrest. 

“My parents were very good to my brother and sister and me,” Snow said. “But the country was changing. The government was changing. The political part was never stable. When I was in the 7th grade, schools closed for about two years; we didn’t know when they would open again.”

August 8, 1988 was a dark day, historically — and in Snow’s memory. Called the 8888 Uprising, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the street, continuing until a bloody military coup ended the movement in September. “It was the worst time. People cut off heads and hung them in the trees. I can’t even think about it.”

There were no human rights to speak of, especially for a family of mixed ethnicity. Snow’s father was Chinese, and the family experienced discrimination and prejudice. “We never talked about it,” Snow said. “I never asked. But I never knew my Chinese grandparents, and my father was not allowed to do certain things.” She learned to avoid situations where she herself would suffer as half-Chinese.

Snow’s mother tried to save money for the future, but at one point, the government declared that all the currency she had was worthless. Prices skyrocketed. “It was living in a war zone, with a military government. People were in survival mode.” 

A DREAM BEGINS

When Snow was 12 or 13, a visiting relative showed her items from the United States: beautiful things she had never seen before. Maybe one day, she thought, she could see the US for herself. It seemed impossible at the time. 

But while she was studying zoology in college, and participating in demonstrations and protests, Snow’s life plans were interrupted when her mother suffered a stroke. “I kept telling myself that one day, she would walk. That was my aim. I would do everything I could, and my mother would be just fine.” 

Instead, she and her father exhausted their money and their energy until her mother passed away.

“Every time I’m in trouble and I don’t think I can handle a situation, I remember those days,” Snow said. “I tell myself the truth: that I took care of my mother, wholeheartedly. I’m very grateful that I was able to drop everything to take care of her. My mother took care of me — mothers work so hard for us — and I got a chance to experience that. I tell the universe the truth, and the help I need comes.”

Both of Snow’s siblings had moved to Malaysia, but her brother returned to help their father; Snow joined her sister in Malaysia, where she lived for two years. It was a difficult process, costing a lot of money. 

“There were a lot of Burmese illegals there, working the jobs the Malaysians wouldn’t do,” Snow said. Sleeping on the floor of the kitchen was not the worst part — she doesn’t like to talk about other situations — but Snow did not give up her dream of seeing the US.

Other Burmese immigrants told her about the possibilities of political asylum and refugee status, but Snow had few resources. The longer she stayed, the more difficult it became, and the more difficult it was to leave. Persevering, Snow saved her wages. She researched. She planned.

Eventually, she went to the Mexican embassy in Singapore, applied for a tourist visa and flew to Mexico City. After a three-day bus trip, she was at the border, housed at a detention center with 400 other women.

“I can’t articulate the hardest times, mentally and emotionally,” Snow said. “But getting to America, I was just ‘Oh, wow.’ I was clean. There was shampoo and toothpaste. I could rest. They fed us three meals a day. I met so many women who thought that the United States was the only answer for them, their dream.”

After four months, Snow joined a cousin in California, worked and earned an associate’s degree. Times weren’t easy — she experienced homelessness in both California and New York — but she learned valuable lessons and never lost the gratitude for the country that welcomed her.

Snow married her husband and lived in New Jersey, but after a bout with cancer, he retired. The couple moved to Port St. Lucie, where Snow decided to grow microgreens. “I knew the nutrition part, and I liked to grow plants. But the main reason is, I wanted to get to know the place and the people.”

SUPER FOODS

There’s no scientific definition of what makes something a “superfood” but, generally, the term is used for foods rich in nutrients: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber and healthy fats. Studies show that microgreens may lower “bad” cholesterol, reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and boost the immune system. Certain cancers and diabetes-related ailments have also seen improvement with microgreens.

Snow — or Farmer Kim, as she’s known in the business — grows her crops in trays, inside a humidity-controlled, well-ventilated room of her home in Riverland, a growing community west of Tradition. LED grow lights stay on for 17 hours a day. “We grow when we sleep, and they’re the same.”

Sometimes called “vegetable confetti,” microgreens are known for their delicate texture and brilliant colors. Depending on the type, the taste varies widely: sweet, sour, bitter. Snow eats them raw or adds baby broccoli to bananas, or sunflower greens to soup.

Microgreens can also be blended into juices or smoothies, or added to dishes. Gilbert described a typical lunch: a sandwich with vegan mayonnaise, lettuce and microgreens. She also tops salads with microgreens. 

PSL Microgreens Farm has moved from the Farmer’s Market downtown Fort Pierce; Farmer Kim now spends her Saturdays at the West Palm Beach Greenmarket on Clematis Street; and Sundays at Stuart’s Market on Main, at Flagler Park. She also offers weekly microgreens delivery services within Riverland.

“Kim has the freshest and tastiest microgreens and is very knowledgeable,” Gilbert said. “She goes out of her way to make sure you get the best.” 

PSL Microgreens Farm

Facebook: MicroGreensfarmpsl.com 

Instagram: p.s.lmicrogreensfarm

Phone: 714.833.9029

See original article in print publication