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In keeping with our Urbafresh Live Sales model, we are now in testing with a new product line ... the microgreenfarm live microgreen sales tray. Created to serve the consumer markets with live delivery of microgreens, our new product features microgreens still growing in their trays that can be purchased and taken home where the cover can be taken off, water added, and growth resumed. Thus leading to their own instant microgreen garden and harvest. The new product is still undergoing testing and development but pictured above are results from trials. The shelf life is now being tested, but the actual plants and taste are extraordinary. The new product is highlighted by significant advancements in sustainability and organic food delivery. More details to follow ....
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It is hard to describe what a normal growth of microgreens looks like. One of our seed suppliers has a great video on growing mustard microgreens and we took a screen capture from the video that illustrates what a typical growth cycle will look like. Note that the microgreens will accelerate their growth greatly once the leaves form and they get sun.  Note how the plants grow about an inch between day 3 and 5. The seeds took 3 days to emerge from their seeds and reach a small plant size, it appears that they doubled again at day 7 or so and doubled again to get to day 10 ... exponential growth of the microgreens. Note that at day 10 you are ready to harvest as the first true leaves are starting to appear and this is the optimum point for nutrition and taste. This crop is indicative of most microgreen growing but speed and size will vary by variety and growing conditions. This can serve as a general guide of what to expect.
One our favorite microgreens are the green pea microgreens. It seems that this great tasting and visually stunning crop is a favorite all over the world. We found a great UK supplier who has a site, Pea Shoots, Grown in Britain site that specializes in pea shoots and it seems that they are a staple in all sorts of foods and common in markets there. The pictures compare our green pea microgreen kit to some highlighted product in the UK ... The picture at right from the UK website highlights pea shoots in a chow mein dish topped with salmon ... oh boy ... I saw a section on their website devoted to recipes for using pea shoots. Who would have known how versatile you could be with these wonderful little critters. Click on the recipe page for some spetacular and nutritious uses of our kit. We have ordered some new snap peas and will be creating a new snap pea kit over the next few weeks.
Our classroom kits are ready to go for class sizes of 20 or less students. The MicrogreenFarm classroom kits feature a hands on experience for students of all ages. Each child will go through planting, germinating, nurturing and finally harvesting and consuming a tasty and nutritious crop of broccoli microgreens. 
Look at our proud farmer. These children are from our local Head Start preschool and if you know anything about 3-4 year olds, you know how tough it is convince them to eat anything that is supposed to be good for them. ALL of the young farmers anxiously consumed their crops.
We are looking for sponsors for classrooms in Las Vegas and in Maui, HI ... if you know anyone or would like to sponsor a class, contact us directly. Our microgreen kits are great sources of live food and we have always reused our spent media, but today we want to take a closer look at how our simple microgreen growing kit can become an abundant garden. Our growing media is made of coconut coir and has some worm castings in it. When you mix this in with potting soil or your garden, it creates a rich source of organics. Once you harvest your microgreens you will notice a wonderful root mass that the microgreens left behind, it appears to be a mat of roots and soil. Take a look at these shots ... The first picture is of my tray that I have placed used trays to reuse in our garden. It has been rainy lately and I went out and lo and behold, we have quite a few new starts and nice baby greens that can be harvested again and used in salads or garnish. The middle picture is one by Lisa who has taken the harvested trays and placed them in her container garden. Notice how the rain brought out the starts again from our trays. These starts grow into the full vegetables as evidenced by the young kale that we now have. We have also harvested a large radish and chard.
Our kits are great and the microgreens are wonderful, but the journey need not stop with the harvest. Baby Greens, Organic Vegetables, Organic Soil Ammendment ... Oh My !!! Here are more pictures from the 2nd crop of microgreens from our local Head Start center. Preschool aged (3-4 yr olds) are the most honest and open people you could ever find. Wonder, enjoyment, fun and questions all emerge at the same time and bubble to the surface unchecked and unbridled. Just look at the focus and joy in their faces ... Our Microgreen Classroom kits are designed to fit into any classroom situation to allow students to grow their own crops of wonderful microgreens in 7-10 days !!! These microgreens will grow from seed to harvest in an amazingly short time and provide children with a first hand experience of growing, nurturing and harvesting their own crops.
Kits include 20 student stations and they will produce two full crops in the reuseable corn based (not petroleum) plastic clear containers. Visit our store or contact us for ordering or more information on custom configuration and crops. We are running an introductory special where all kit prices include free shipping ... Friday marked the second harvest of our Classroom Microgreen Kit at our local Head Start center. These kids are aged 3-4 and have enough energy to power a small city ... what better way to test an educational process and populating a kit that kids could try and see if the wonder we saw could be brought to the classroom. We can report that our results were more than we could have imagined !!! With a renewed emphasis on early childhood education and the emerging body of validating research, we believe our Microgreen Growing classroom kit can open a window for children that can lead to a lifetime appreciation for plants and food and growing by realizing the wonder of plants emerging. They will be able to plant, nurture, and consume the fruits of their labor in 7-10 days !!!
To see more pics and see just how great these kids and their reactions are, check out our info page on our Educational Technologies Website. Kits are ready to order through our store (more details and kit contents) or contact us direct through email. Quick update shot of the growing table ... same cat different bed !!! 
Must be great being a cat in the microgreen garden! Seriously, notice how Lisa is cutting and using her trays of microgreens. The middle two green trays nearest the window show how she harvests a bit at a time to eat while leaving the rest of the tray growing out. You can eat your microgreens daily with a little planning and a few trays ...
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UrbaformUrbaform is a technology integrator and developer specializing in food production in the urban environment ... Archives
February 2020
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