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Meet the Market // Hmong farmers
UPDATED June 1, 2009, 3:12pm
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By Zoie Glass
The Hmong farmers are an important part of the Mill City Farmers Market, bringing a beautiful array of produce and flowers, and a window into new tastes in food.
Noryeng and Che Xiong Chang
Noryeng and Che were the first farmers to call asking for a spot when the Mill City Farmers Market opened in 2006. As they planned their crops for the spring, they wanted to be sure that they had enough for this new market — which they learned about from Brenda Langton. They lived in Green Bay, Wisc., and grew cucumbers for a local pickle company. When they moved to Minnesota, they started their own farming business, and they now grow quite a bit more than cucumbers. At their stall you’ll find rare Asian greens like Malabar spinach, beautiful fresh herbs and fresh red raspberries — both summer and fall types!
Der’s Flower Farm
Der was the first large scale flower producer to join the market. Every week she brings gorgeous fresh bouquets to the market. Her daughter Ge and son in law Chee run the stand at the market. They also grow fresh vegetables including onions, potatoes and green beans. While they used to grow traditional Asian vegetables, they soon realized that it was too difficult to sell them at local markets. Stop by Der’s Flower Farm for a beautiful bouquet to brighten your home — the offerings change weekly, and the fall selection is wonderful!
Mai Thao
Mai and her family were farmers in Thailand but grew food just for the family, not for sale. Today, Mai runs the farm with her whole family, including her sister’s Maidoua and Maihang, and their parents Vang and Cheu. Their stall at the market overflows with colorful peppers and eggplants — and on some days, they have so much produce that they use two stalls to accommodate it all. Kao Sheng Vang
Kao runs the farm with her whole family including her mother Chue and father Neng, and her brothers and sisters. Kao’s sister, Pa, likes to help out at the market on Saturdays. At the market, they sell everything from cucumbers and tomatoes to beautiful fresh herbs and healthy greens. They also grow a striking array of peppers in all shapes, sizes and colors. Zoie Glass owns the Mill City Farmers Market vendor Lucille's Kitchen Garden. *** Market menu courtesy Lucille's Kitchen Garden
Market shopping list Oil Seed Rape
Onions
Cilantro
Baby dill
Garlic
Garlicky Chinese Green Flower (Oil Seed Rape); Zaub Ntsuab Paj Kib
Co-author Sami loves this vegetable better than any other Asian leafy green. It has a delightful sweet and crispy quality, and has a beautiful glossy, deep-green color. Because oil seed rape in not imported, it is only available “in season.” Chinese broccoli, bamboo mustard cabbage or bok choy can be substituted for the oil seed rape. Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds oil seed rape, cut into 5-inch long pieces; 5 green onions, white and green parts, cut into 3-inch long pieces; 1/2 bunch cilantro, cut into 3-inch long pieces (about 2 cups); 1 bunch baby dill, cut into 3-inch long pieces (about 2 cups); 1/4 cup chopped garlic; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon soy sauce Preparation
You need a wide-bottomed, no-stick pan with a lid for this dish. Be sure to have all of the ingredients prepared and ready to use before you begin cooking.
Clean and cut up the oil seed rape. Cut up the green onions, cilantro and the baby dill and toss them together in a bowl. Chop the garlic. Heat the oil in the pan until it is quite hot, but not hot enough to smoke. Stir-fry the garlic until it is fragrant and golden brown. Add the oil seed rape, salt and soy sauce. Stir-fry quickly for a few minutes, making sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a little water and cover the pan for 3-4 minutes. Remove the lid, add the green onion, cilantro, and dill and then stir again. Do not over-cook. The leaves should be limp, but the stems should still be a little crunchy.
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Combating cancer
UPDATED August 30, 2010, 11:42am
By Dylan Thomas
Decorated in neutral tones and blond wood flooring, the infusion room at the Hennepin Comprehensive Cancer Center was designed to feel calm and welcoming to the roughly 500 patients who receive chemotherapy treatments there each year. Center Manager Kelly Porter said one session may run up to six hours, so patients — who receive their infusions in recliners in one of 11 small patient bays ringing the room — are made to feel comfortable. They read, watch TV or, like 48-year-old Desiree Jackson of Minneapolis, three months into chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer in March, simply relax as much as possible. “I just try to nod off a little,” Jackson said. “I just like to get it done and over with.” From his desk in the center of
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The poison patrol
UPDATED August 30, 2010, 11:39am
By Dylan Thomas
A typical call to the Hennepin Regional Poison Center begins at a home on laundry day. A parent pours out a cup of bleach, preparing to add it to the wash. The phone rings and the parent leaves to answer it. A child reaches up for cup of the clear liquid. We’ll let poison center Managing Director Debbie Anderson take over from here: “A child takes a swig [and] they immediately throw up. So, what do parents do? They panic; they call 911.” Anderson said that call would be patched through to her call center in HCMC, where a staff of specially trained pharmacists and pharmacy students take calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The staffer would assure the parent vomiting was
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Savvy about sleep
By jake weyer
There’s little question that folks today are hooked on finding ways to stay awake. The massive collection of energy drinks on display in a room at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center is a testament to that. Voluntary sleep deprivation, not surprisingly, is the most common cause of drowsiness during the day. Neurologist Mark Mahowald, director of the center, sees it all the time. “People always ask, ‘well how do you know if you’re sleep deprived?’ Our first question is, ‘do you use an alarm clock to wake up in the morning?’ If you use an alarm clock, you are by definition sleep deprived because if your brain had collected as much sleep as it needed, you would have awakened before the alarm went off,” he said.
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Triage time
By Sarah McKenzie
No one wants to end up here. But if you do end up in HCMC’s Emergency Department, you’re in place that has a long and successful track record in trauma care. The department, housed in the hospital’s Red Building, 730 S. 8th St., takes up an entire city block and has six specialized team centers. In 1989, HCMC became the first hospital in the state certified as a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons. The distinction means that the hospital has significant operating room capacity and surgeons available to deliver emergency medical care trained in a variety of specialties. The hospital’s Emergency Department is the busiest in the state with more than 100,000 visits a year, said Michelle Noltimier, director
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Fruit-themed hallways and anti-smoking posters
By Cristof Traudes
Welcome to the part of HCMC that handles severe accidents but also cuts, scrapes and bruises, the part that deals with burn victims and pregnancy but also tonsil trouble and literacy. This is “peeds” — as staffers of pediatrics call it — where health care is only half of the story. Anybody up to age 18 is sent to the department and sometimes 21-year-olds are, too. As a result, peeds is set up much like a tentative parent — to entertain and educate wee ones but steer clear (as much as possible) from stepping on the toes of teens. It’s a department with yellow walls and fruit-themed hallways in one section and sleek grey walls and self esteem-boosting posters in another. Every child that walks through the door is given a
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Politics. Change. Prevention.
By Cristof Traudes
// Art Gonzalez talks about the health care landscape, General Assistance Medical Care and the future //
Art Gonzalez, CEO of Hennepin County Medical Center, sees change on the horizon. More than just health insurance is getting an overhaul; the way hospitals will be graded on success is, too. In the second and final part of his interview with the Downtown Journal, he talks about what that means for HCMC right now and what it will mean down the road.
Downtown Journal: What’s your sense of state leaders’ views of HCMC?
Gonzalez: I get the impression that we’re well known and well regarded. They recognize the impact that we provide in the region.
Obviously, the
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More than one way to give birth
By Sarah McKenzie
Hennepin County Medical Center is home to the state’s first Nurse-Midwife Service. Since 1971, midwives at the hospital have been helping women have natural birth experiences. Rita O’Reilly, director of the hospital’s Nurse Midwife Service, said HCMC practices the “true midwifery philosophy.” “We believe in the normal birth process; keeping birth as natural as possible,” she said. “We discourage elective inductions of labor without a medical indication. We encourage families to be participants in the decision making affecting their pregnancy, labor and births.” The hospital’s nurse midwives deliver more than 800 babies each year. The nine-bed unit’s cesarean section rate is 12.7
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