New American Farmers Grow Passion for Farming on New Hampshire Soil

By Jackie Harris

Mohamed Shegow grew up farming and cooking with his mom, Batulo Mohamed, who brought her experience growing food in Somalia to New Hampshire. These days, he spends time working with her at her food truck, Batulo’s Kitchen.

At the Morning Star Farmer’s Market Trade Fair in Concord last Friday, Shegow, 16, and Mohamed served vegetable and meat stuffed pastries known as sambusas to a line of customers. Mother and son were there with a group of New American farmers promoting their produce and goods to new audiences and regulars.

Mohamed’s sambusas include organic produce she grows as part of Fresh Start Farms, a collective of immigrant and refugee farmers. The Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, or ORIS, provides land and supplies for them to work on. Most of the farmers grew their own food personally or commercially in their home countries before they moved to New Hampshire.

“That's why she still farms. She has that passion,” Shegow said. “Having that passion in your own business, it just makes you work better.”

Amisa Zuberi also connected with Fresh Start Farms after her experience farming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Speaking Kinyarwanda to translator and ORIS program coordinator Jean Mugabo, Zuberi said farming allows her flexibility that other jobs don’t allow.

“She says she has multiple [medical] conditions that prevent her from doing eight hour shifts,” Mugabo relayed. “So she chose farming because she works her own schedule.”

But Zuberi had to make some changes when she moved to New Hampshire. She used to farm rice and cassava, but cassava needs tropical weather to grow, not a New Hampshire winter.

Fresh Start Farm Manager Jed Crook says that’s a common struggle for New American farmers. Part of his job is teaching farmers what makes sense to grow for the New Hampshire climate and growing seasons.

“Growing food in New Hampshire is extremely different than growing food in Western or Eastern or Central Africa in terms of climates, soil types, everything,” Crook said.