Laotian farmer ready for Aliante's market

When Aliante's farmers market opens sometime this fall, Kou Xiong will be the best person to see for every family's fresh fruit and vegetable needs.

The 49-year-old Laotian, with the help of his wife, Chee, of 29 years, and their 16-year-old son Jason, has been growing 150 varieties of leafy vegetables, legumes, melons, squash and grasses on their 10-acre family farm in Clovis, Calif., for the last 20 years.

Xiong (pronounced Zee-Yong) spends a majority of his time on the road, driving his 18-foot spotless delivery van the 400-plus miles to Las Vegas from his home northeast of Fresno, Calif., so he can display and sell his bounty at the Las Vegas Farmers Market events Tuesdays, Wednesdays and sometimes Thursdays.

Then, on Sundays, it's off on another 225-mile jaunt to Los Angeles for a day at the market.

If that's not strenuous enough, in his free time, he's planting seed tapes, checking the drip irrigation system, weeding the rows and picking next week's cornucopia.

Such a hectic schedule would do most people in, but not Xiong, who loves his job.

"I like it because I am my own boss. I can tell myself what to do," said the Southeast Asian refugee who gets help at the vending stand from his 27-year-old sister Kasha Xiong and his 19-year-old daughter Cindy.

"I can take vacation anytime I want. I can work 24/7, anytime.

"As a farmer, I can only work in summertime. In wintertime, I have three months vacation. Who else gets three months vacation?"

A resident alien who is ready, willing and able to become a U.S. citizen anytime, Xiong remains fiercely nationalistic in his beliefs toward his country of residence.

He left Laos in 1975, arriving in neighboring Thailand in 1977 and finally setting foot on American soil in 1980 at Fresno. His cousin, who already was living in the United States, sponsored Xiong and his wife as refugees.

To look at Xiong, it would be hard to believe the industrious, hard worker who buzzes around his stand like a crazed hornet once worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency during the latter part of the Vietnam War. But he did.

"In 1973, I had to join the Army. It's the secret army for the U.S. -- the CIA -- to help fight Vietnam," he said. "The F-14s and F-15s that fight in Vietnam sometimes got shot down, and because they couldn't land in Laos they'd jump from the plane, parachuting. We'd go in and help, like a rescue team."

But Xiong doesn't wear his politics or personal beliefs on his sleeve for everyone to see. Instead, all he wants to do is provide something useful and beneficial to his customers.

"Delivering fresh to the people is most interesting to me because (when) I came here I see that half are not good vegetables. I'm very interested in bringing things fresh from the farm."

And that he does. Everything from Chinese broccoli to sweet potatoes, okra, chayote and pumpkin; lemon grass; chard; Chinese spinach; shallots; bitter melon and even watermelon can be found under Xiong's orange plastic canopy.

"I have to put my price at a reasonable level so I do not sell too high or too low," he said. "Because even if I have a lot of time and expenses in these, I still want to sell to the people at a reasonable price."

Farming, trucking, and selling seven days a week may seem like an arduous task to the most urban city slicker. But for Xiong, like he said, "It's all I know how to do." Even still, he finds enjoyment in it.

"Farmers markets are very competitive, so I think a lot of people don't like to drive this far. But I think coming here is just like doing business and having some fun. ... Some people come here maybe once or twice a year to have fun, but for me I have a vacation every week."


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