 Here is the unveiling of our fourth design or the SIP4 Kit. Our goal is to make the growing and use of microgreens as simple as possible in order to make this wonderful food available to more people. Driven by feedback and problems encountered we are constantly experimenting and tweaking, we now have something we feel solves several problems and moves us towards our goal. This initial kit builds on our wellness kits and initially will be offered in broccoli and kale crops in our store and on etsy. Notice the picture on the far right. This shows how the irrigation mat is positioned under the soil layer. This is the key element to our SIP (Sub Irrigated Planter) design where the plants and soil will always have a supply of water to grow. You simply add water by tilting the tray back and use a cup or similar to pour a little water on the mat whenever it becomes dry to the touch (you can see the mat "dry" out to tell you when to add water. The mat will store the water and dispense as needed to your plants and because the mat is more "thirsty" than the soil, the water will migrate evenly beneath your crop.
The SIP4 design is available today in our store, note the wicking material is pellon that most crafters are well familiar with so you can save a $1 by just ordering our Wellness kits and cutting your own mat as illustrated. Be sure to soak the mat first and squeeze out excess water before covering with soil on to prime the system.
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 Check out the results after 7 days using our SIP design 3. The results were astounding, the side to side with radish of the same variety were smaller and less dense. I think the constant supply of water to the roots was the key. If you look at the picture on the far left below you can see how one of the radishes sent an extremely aggressive root down to directly partake of the water. The pictures below show how this unit was constructed. Really promising results and we are working on the next SIP Design 4 ... this 4th design will be highllighted on another blog this weekend. The first picture shows the top that has our wick passing through to the top growing tray. Pic 2 shows our wicking mat that sits on the wick coming from the lower watering container. Pic 3 shows the soil put on top the mat for growing. Pic 4 is the shot of the root I mention and shows layer of soil and how the roots have taken over the media. With this setup, you would simply add water into the lower container as needed. The radish are thirsty plants so the water was checked at least daily. Note that the soil was extremely moist as compared to normal, so more experimentation will be done using higher water levels in the soil.
 Fascinating thought put out by this great article by Tara Campbell in Huffpost Green ... Urban Agriculture: A New Kind of Fast Food. Mentioned prominently as the #2 fast food are microgreens.
We know many of you who follow this blog have already discovered the benefits and fun of growing these amazining plants and it is nice to see another popular internet site pick up on this growing phenomena. I think with the help of some new innovations, we will see a large surge in our space. Stay tuned this weekend as we will unveil the newest microgreen growing kit that is based on our new design for a Sub Irrigated Planter variation that makes our growing easier and better. Our new SIP growing kits will be available this coming weekend. Why not decorate all tables with edible microgreens as they are not only visually appealing but can serve to top off nutrition on anything you serve. Lisa was one of our first customers and sent us these pictures of her thanksgiving party table settings. Featuring wheatgrass and broccoli these great looking and great tasting greens serve as the ideal edible setting.  What to do, what to do ... how do I water my microgreens to make sure they have the right amount of water to grow. This commonly asked question really escapes a simple answer. Enter research and design using self-watering planters that are sometimes called “sub-irrigated planters” or SIPs, because your plants get to “sip” water whenever they want. We went to work and have come up with multiple designs and are conducting tests on them. Pictured are the first two prototypes. The unit on the right and middle is our prototype 1, this is using a sure to grow mat with a watering tube in the upper left corner so we could directly water the matting under the wondersoil from a single point. Middle picture shows the soil on the mat before spreading and seeding. Picture at the far right is of the planted tray with the humidity cover on ready to see the effects of this watering system.
Prototype 2 is a design utilizing an external watering container. This would be useful in servicing multiple plants from a single water holder. The premise here is that each crop would use water as needed and when needed. The picture on the far left shows a strip of the matting that is laid beneath the main mat in the planting container. This strip simply is placed first with the sub surface wicking mat next and the soil surface above. This configuration would allow multiple plant units to be serviced by the central water container. These two prototypes are presently being grown out with microgreens to judge their effectiveness. We have another design that was just constructed so watch for updates on our new SIPing systems ...  There are so many claims of what microgreens can do and provide. If you google the term microgreens, there are well over 800,000 mentions found on the net. Many claim all sorts of wondrous results and show you how to grow and use them. The common item is that microgreens are a wonderful sources of nutrients just like the fully grown vegetable that they would grow into. Microgreens are also much safer to grow and consume than sprouts. A large sprout study funded by Australia's Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) assessed the anti-cancer potential of a number of common sprouts, findings showed that broccoli sprouts and red radish sprouts were the ultimate anti-cancer champions, but kale sprouts showed significant anti-cancer potential. Our new Microgreen Basic Microgreen Wellness Kit features all three of the super greens, broccoli, kale and red radish. Also available are single crop kits along with Garden Cress for single crops and beginning growers who want to get their feed wet. Go to our store page for ordering and more info. Special offer for the holidays ... all prices include shipping to US. To reap the greatest health benefits of microgreens, they should be eaten immediately after harvest. Microgreens, like most other superfoods should consumed fresh, as they lose their nutritional value rapidly after harvest. The kits will all include a growing tray with humidity cover made from recycled plastic bottles that is reuseable. Wondersoil disc that when hydrated will create enough growing media for 2 trays of microgreens. All seeds are organic and Non GMO. The addition of our Full Spectrum trace minerals liquid organic fertilizer gives you a unique and potent combination of fresh, live food that can help you on your personal journey to wellness. 
 Only within the last 20 years have scientists been able to unlock the interplay of specific phytonutrients found during the early growth period of plants.. We now have a basic understanding of how they ineract with our bodies, combatting inflammation with antioxidants, and protecting DNA from damage.
Back in 1967, a team of scientists from Yale University showed that young pea seedlings contain significant levels of tocopherol (vitamin E). The Yale study also found that seedlings started to produce large amounts of vitamin K when exposed to light and during photosynthesis. More than 15 years ago, Dr. Paul Talalay, a Johns Hopkins scientist, discovered that three day old broccoli sprouts contain 10 to 100 times more cancer-fighting compounds than corresponding amounts of mature broccoli. He built a business based on his findings, putting broccoli sprouts on the shelves of large grocery stores across the US. His research also showed cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, kale and brussels sprouts, are a rich source of enzymes that have proven health benefits throughout life. Dr Talalay observed that the seeds of these vegetables contain high concentrations of vital nutrients. Couple that with the earlier findings by the Yale researchers and the picture finally starts to become clearer why microgreens have more nutrients than sprouts. The act of “greening” the cotyledon leaves creates the first instance of photosynthesis and starts the production of chlorophyll (the green element of leaves). A 2010 study published in the Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science reported that young lettuce seedlings, harvested 7 days after germination, had the highest antioxidant capacity as well as the highest concentrations of health-promoting phenolic compounds, compared with their more mature conterparts. A few years later, a team of scientists from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzed the nutrient composition of 25 commercially available microgreen varieties. They discovered that in general microgreen cotyledon leaves had considerably higher nutritional densities than their mature counterparts. This large-scale microgreen study was published in the August 2012 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Our new Microgreen Wellness Kits will feature various crops that are mentioned above and others shown to have an impact on wellness. To reap the greatest health benefits of microgreens, they should be eaten immediately after harvest. Microgreens, like most other superfoods should consumed fresh, as they lose their nutritional value rapidly after harvest. With the addition of our Full Spectrum trace minerals, we offer you a unique and potent combination of fresh, live food that can help you on your personal journey to wellness.  Microgreens can provide a significant amount of nutrients that are vital to health and wellbeing. We offer home growing kits that can be harvested live for maximum freshness. . In addition, we offer full spectrum fertilizer consisting of sea solids, which will improve the growth and taste of your plants, as well as add trace minerals for your health.
Our new wondersoil kits include: growing tray and cover, Wondersoil for two crops of microgreens, one package of soluble fertilizer, and two packages of organic, non GMO seeds. As these kits are intended to promote wellness, we concentrated on offering plants proven to be high in vital nutrients. Our intent is to provide the simplest solution for raising microgreens while being able to sample different crops. We will be offering 3 different kit options. One is a single two crop microgreen strater kit. Our next options are going to be a 3 month and 6 month subscription service. For one payment, you will receive growing supplies and seeds for a new crop of microgreens once a month for either the 3 or 6 month subscription. This will provide two crops of microgreens a month, so you can keep up a fresh supply of harvestable microgreens.. We will have more details and a special sale offer posted by the end of this week. One other aspect of our offering is the inclusion of enough seeds to take some out of each packet and plant in your home garden.. Home & Garden Microgreen Wellness Kits! Our partners in India, Terra Farms have just introduced live trays of microgreens to the Hyper City food and grocery chain. A first for India and a great way to bring live food and nutrition to the urban population in Mumbai.  We have been working with Terra Farms on several fronts and are excited to see the microgreen products live and in stores there ... great job Terra Farms !!!
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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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