A Roseville backyard garden grows into Kisheri Farms
Cameroon Roots, Minnesota Soil
A half‑acre backyard garden in Roseville has grown into a thriving family farm rooted in resilience, tradition, and care. Kisheri Farms, led by owner and grower Relyndis Tegomoh, is shaped by her life in Cameroon, her family’s journey to Minnesota, and a lifelong commitment to growing culturally meaningful food.
Today, three people keep the farm running. Relyndis Tegomoh farms full-time, tending crops, caring for chickens, managing markets, and making the big decisions that keep the farm moving forward. Her husband Marius jokingly calls himself the “senior farmhand,” and handles the heavy work: field prep, compost systems, equipment, and weekend support. Their youngest son rounds out the team as the “junior farmhand,” feeding chickens, refreshing water, and jumping in on daily chores.
Kisheri Farms’ story began long before the family moved to Minnesota. Growing up in Cameroon, nearly every household tended small plots of corn, plantains, yams, cassava, vegetables, herbs, and chickens. “We ate from our farms,” Tegomoh shared. “You saved your seeds, rotated your plots, and grew what fed the family.” That upbringing stayed with her through her family’s immigration to Minnesota in the mid‑90s.
After resettling in Roseville, she began growing the foods she couldn’t find here—greens, peppers, herbs that reminded her family of home. A single raised bed expanded into a robust backyard operation. Even while running a hair‑braiding business and caring for her children, she kept growing food for neighbors and friends.
When the Covid-19 Pandemic closed her braiding shop and disrupted local food access, she recognized the opportunity to step fully into farming.
Tegomoh enrolled in the Emerging Farmers program, trained at Big River Farms through The Food Group, and learned how to scale production for Minnesota’s growing seasons. Before long, a chance to purchase land appeared, and in January 2024, Kisheri Farms found its home in Kenyon, MN. Their 7-acre farm grows culturally relevant produce, such as sweet potato greens, njama njama, waterleaf, okra, pumpkin leaf, and other vegetables.
Last season brought both excitement and heartbreak. A devastating hailstorm wiped out nearly all her crops, tore through her high tunnel, and damaged the farmhouse roof.
“It was hard,” Tegomoh said. “Everything was gone.”
But that loss reshaped her approach. This year, she’s diversifying: seed starts, staggered plantings, perennial crops like asparagus, and expanding her flock of chickens. By spreading her harvest across spring, summer, and fall, she’s building a more resilient future.
Despite challenges, what she loves most hasn’t changed: growing good food for the community. Kisheri Farms supplies Mill City Farmers Market each Saturday and partners with local food shelves to provide culturally relevant produce.
“It helps people feel a bit of home here,” she shared. For her, that connection is everything.
You can find Kisheri Farms at Mill City Farmers Market every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., or on their website at kisherifarms.com. You can also read more about Relyndis & Marius Tegomoh’s story on their Mill City vendor page.
Kisheri Farms operates out of Kenyon, Roseville, and Marine on St. Croix, MN.
Minnesota Grown is a program of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, created to promote products grown and raised in Minnesota. For more than 40 years the program has connected consumers with local farmers, farmers’ markets, and other agricultural producers through resources like the Minnesota Grown directory, a searchable map of over 1,000 local farms, markets, and producers. The program also licenses the use of the Minnesota Grown label to Minnesota producers and retailers. Anywhere you see the Minnesota Grown logo, you can have confidence that product was grown or raised within the state. Visit minnesotagrown.com to find local growers near you.
Editorial note: An earlier version of this article originally appeared on the Minnesota Grown Facebook page and has been adapted and republished in The Roseville Reader with permission.
