Mohamed Abukar is orignally from Somalia. When Mohamed arrived in Lewiston, he
was told about the NASAP program and was immediately drawn to it. “Since I
already had the knowledge and the experience, if there is a farm here, I will
grow on it.” But his experience and knowledge of farming the land in Africa
proved very different. He learned a new system for preparing the soil and
planting in addition to other new techniques for farming in Maine. If he had
started growing here the way he did in Africa he states, “it would not have
made any sense. In this country, you have to make the soil healthy and you
don’t have to do that in Africa.” From 1992
to 2004, Mohamed lived in a refugee camp in Kenya, on his time there he
says "I tried to start a farm there, and it took me two years. By the time
my vegetables where growing, I had to leave.” On farming: Mohamed comments that it is an automatic process
for him, "Here, no matter what, I have good fresh food. If I were
somewhere else, I would still be farming."
Where to Meet Mohamed
Thursday: South Portland Farmers' Market 3-7 pm
Saturday: Bath Farmers' Market 8am- 1pm
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