Meet Our Farmers: Blong’s Garden

Photo: Stacy Cha bundling peonies at the Lake City Farmers Market

True farmers market lifers, Farmers Blong and Chor have been selling flowers at the West Seattle Farmers Market since week one 21 years ago, and can also be found at the Univerity District and Lake City farmers markets. We have loved watching their children grow up helping out in the Blong’s Garden market tent, including their daughter Stacy, pictured above. Farming in Fall City, the Cha family grows a variety of gorgeous flowers as well as some produce. (Don’t miss their snap peas in the spring!) In the spring of 2020, their daughter Nikki Cha was kind enough to ask her father, who manages the farm, about his growing methods, and lessons learned along the way.  

Farmer Blong uses a holistic approach to stewarding the land. He pays attention to what grows well there and what doesn’t, and how best to cultivate crops to their fullest potential. 

Farmer Blong tending the tulips

“My dad talks a lot about how farming takes about three years before you completely understand your land and the best ways in which to grow your crops. Every year is different and thus, he stresses that you cannot consistently grow your crops every year and plant them at the same time, in the same place, and with the same expectation. Doing so would incur losses and less yield on your part as a farmer. You must always be conscientious of mother nature and its role when you plant, when you start your seedlings/starts, and how you weed/manage your crop. Crops need certain types of soil; as you become familiar with your land, it helps you organize where it’s best to plant them on the farm. You rotate and plant them in accordance with the state of the soil that year.    

Sometimes plants need a bit of help - for example, it’s a bit chilly this spring. We have some tulips on the ground that are covered and some that aren’t. As we await the predicament of the weather and check on the quality of our flowers, we adjust accordingly by covering them towards the end of their growth (if they are outside) to give them some extra love, stabilization, and a fighting chance.”