Htoo Saw loves to farm at Karen Community Farm at Oaky Grove because he has always loved the outdoors and nature. He values being able to grow traditional vegetables from his own country as well as learning to grow American vegetables.

Growing in different seasons is very exciting for him, and he enjoys growing with chemical free practices. He feels the interdependence of all things when he sees the seeds sprouting up from the proper combination of moisture, soil nutrients, and temperature.

Htoo Saw lived in the eastern part of Burma in the Karen state until 1984. Every year the brutal Burmese army increased their offensive against the Karen National Union army bases along the Thai and Burmese border. The Burmese army used the Karen people as forced labor, human shields, raped women, and tortured anyone disobeying their command. In 1982, his whole family was captured except for his father and older brother who managed to escape. The corrupt Burmese army took put them in jail for two years.

They escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand, where he lived for 19 years and married his wife. In 2004 the United Nation High Commission for Refugees recommended him and they were able to resettle in the USA.

Kee Lar says that she’s not a farmer. She liked to stay in the house while her husband Htoo Saw worked outside in their garden. But once she saw the beans growing and then tasted them she was changed. She said, “These are my beans not your beans Htoo Saw”

Over the years Kee Lar has started helping Htoo Saw more and more at KCFOG. She is always by his side willing to do any task. She weeds the rows, she plants the plants and harvests the food. Most of all though she keeps great records of their farming sales and expenses.

This year Kee Lar is renting a plot of her own. She is still working with her husband but now she is a farmer. She is learning to grow all kinds of new things like carrots and lettuce. Kee Lar is always a happy smiling face at the farm and is a big part of the heart and soul of KCFOG.