One of the common questions we get is from people wanting to try their hand at producing microgreens for small commercial use. Farmers Markets provide a nice test bed for growers just starting out. We have designed a kit to answer the need for a starter commercial microgreen operation. In order to see if this will work for you, simply go to some farmers markets in your area and see if anyone is selling microgreens and what is the common prices being paid. Our kits will provide live microgreens and we suggest selling them by the tray and not processed. In most venues, by selling the live trays of microgreens, you bypass a lot of health regulations dealing with processing microgreens for sale (research that also as regulations vary by locations). The pictures are of our basic kit that features a 10"x10" holding tray that is basically 1/2 a standard seed tray. Each holding tray will house four 5"x5" growing trays that are your unit of sale. We have foung a fair pricing is anywhere from $5-$7.50 per tray as pictured below. Our kits will be available as hydroponic, our coir based growing wafers or you can use your own media as several of our customers are doing. The kits will be available here this week and we will also feature a lighting system for indoor growing. Kits will also include Non-GMO seeds as shown. We will provide specific growing instructions and support. Our suggestion is to grow out a tray or two to familiarize yourself with microgreens, but most crops take from 7-10 days so your initial learning curve can be fairly quick. We wanted to get these kits to market so you would be ready for spring and the markets. Contact us for further info on your situation and stay tuned this week for the release of our Farmers Market Kits!
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As promised last week, here is our followup post chronicling our two crops started last week. The growth has been astounding and the development of the leaves and flavors outstanding. Here are the photos from today at exactly 7 days from planting on our hydroponic mat. Proper watering was easily accomplished as simple visual inspection allowed us to maintain a constant pool of water for the root systems. The photos below show what the crops look like after 3 days when we first exposed the plants to light and the top row was taken today showing what the microgreens look like at one week. We are now doing a finishing grow by placing our trays under some blue LED lights for another 3 days to accentuate the colors and nutritional content of the Pak Choi microgreens. We should have part three later this week so you can then see the entire process. We will have hydroponic kits available before the end of the month that will allow you to grow these amazing crops. In our search for methods of growing microgreens we have tried multiple approaches and it appears we may have finally found an approach that works well. We are using a natural fiber mat that is produced in the US and is sustainable. The binder used is FDA approved. We are testing our configuration presently with just water and also a liquid nutrient to boost growth. Initial results are good and we have decided to offer kits based on the hydroponic system. It simplifies the growing process as water level is easily achieved by visual examination of your grow tray. Here are photos of two crops of our purple pak choi hybrids that are both quick to grow and highly nutritious. These photos are of the seeds after three days of germination in low light. We will grow them out for 7-10 days and followup with a post next week of the final product. |
UrbaformUrbaform is a technology integrator and developer specializing in food production in the urban environment ... Archives
February 2020
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