Growing Microgreens Podcast

Market gardener and aggregator Max Becher joins hosts Diego and Chris to talk all about how he grows microgreens: he discusses the difference between growing microgreens and field crops, adding new microgreen varieties to grow and when to do it, and spotting when there's just too much when it comes to growing microgreens.  Get time and labor-saving farm tools and microgreen seeds at  shop.modern g...

Veteran microgreens grower Chris Thoreau is joined by entrepreneur Pierre Marlow to talk about starting a microgreens business after having the main business shut down during the pandemic. They talk about a slow approach to scaling while maintaining a high-quality product and building a business for retirement rather than scaling into a large-scale operation. They also touch on finding a work-life...

Mother-son duo Robin and Kellen Kanzius of Fred's Urban Farm in San Diego California share their journey of journey of growing a successful microgreens operation in Southern California. They talk about the challenges & rewards of growing outdoors, working with family, and diversifying revenue streams. They also drill down on the importance of consistency, honesty, and community engagement in runni...

Michael Quinn of Mourne Microgreens joins host Chris Thoreau to talk about his journey of starting a microgreens business in Northern Ireland. He shares the challenges of growing and selling a niche crop in a new market, how he leveraged his previous career experience to navigate the business, and how he has set up the business to create social impact from day one.  Click here to learn more about...

Long-time microgreens grower Chris Thoreau joins co-host Diego to talk about the nitty-gritty details of sanitation when it comes to growing microgreens. Since microgreens are considered higher-risk produce compared to regular field vegetables, it's important to know the proper procedures and protocols to put in place to produce a crop of microgreens that are safe, sanitary, and regulation-complia...

Alex Dale of Hunters' Dale Microgreens in Chilliwack, BC joins host and veteran microgreens grower Chris Thoreau to share her story of how she started her farm with her mother, who initially began market gardening. Alex talks about how they scaled the business, as well as the challenges they faced along the way.  Click here to learn more about Hunters' Dale!   Get time and labor-saving farm tools...

Lupe Smith, owner of Barons Microgreens in Los Angeles, California shares his startup journey. He talks about how he canvassed the LA area and ultimately ended up growing microgreens. He also shares the challenges of educating people about microgreens and how his business evolved from the early days of driving through LA traffic to pivoting to farmer's markets and selling both fresh microgreens an...

In this episode, long-time microgreens grower Chris Thoreau joins host Diego to talk all about seeds, specifically, local seed production...or the lack thereof. He talks about what it means to purchase seeds responsibly and how possible or realistic that is. He also takes a look at the local seed movement, how practical and viable it is, as well as some of the challenges that come with both suppor...

Farmer and educator Jodi Roebuck of Roebuck Farms in Taranaki, New Zealand jumps on the show to discuss how they grow microgreens as part of their market garden operation. Farmer Jodi shares some interesting ways they leverage microgreens as a way to expand their product offerings, such as enhancing existing salad mixes and picking up the slack by filling in production gaps when field crops are ha...

Lily Evans of Short Roots Farm in Kenosha, Wisconsin shares her entrepreneurial journey into microgreens starting from how she bootstrapped her business with minimal investment, to scaling up her business by transforming a spare room into a grow room, to expanding her product offering to include mushrooms. She also shares the challenges and successes she faced as she built up a good market for mic...

Blake Cowling and Austin Collins on Scintilla Farms in San Diego, California share their microgreens journey starting on a very small scale and expanding to growing in a warehouse to service over 30 restaurant customers. They also share why they chose to sell to restaurants, how they built their solid customer base, and their strategy for curating their crop offerings based on their customers' nee...

In this episode, Chris and I discuss using the blackout stage in growing microgreens, particularly broccoli, and whether it's beneficial. The blackout stage involves keeping plants in the dark after the germination stage to make them taller and potentially increase yield. The trial tested different blackout durations (0 to 3 days) to observe effects on crop height, yield, appearance, flavor, and s...

Joe Naiman-Sessions of N Bar S Microgreens in Helena, Montana shares his microgreen growing journey, from reaching out to other microgreen growers in the area and selling to grocery stores, to broadening their product offering to include edible flowers, to their success in selling live cut microgreens at farmer's markets. Joe also shares his edible flower cultivation methods, his plans to expand t...

Jacob Goldfarb of Goldfarm Canada shares his microgreens journey and how he moved his growing operation from his kitchen in his 1-bedroom apartment, to his 3-bedroom apartment, to a commercial growing space, before finally ending up in a larger, fully decked out growing space. He also shares his criteria for new growing spaces, his experience renovating the growing space, as well as the challenges...

Catch returning guest microgreens grower Vincent Cuneo of Agrarian Feast to share how his business has fared since it began in 2018.  Vincent details his strategy of partnering with grocers and supermarkets, which helped cushion the impact of the restaurant industry's downturn. He talks about diversifying into specialty mushrooms and underscores the importance of producing high-quality products. K...

The benefits of building a microgreens business, and how to keep improving it. Chris's online course Growing Your Profitable Microgreens Business https://microgreens.teachable.com/courses   Increase farm efficiency with the  Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment  at  https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow Diego on IG https://instagram.com/diegofooter Follow PaperpotCo on IG https://instagr...

Microgreen grower Chris Thoreau joins me to talk about the importance of soil in growing microgreens. Chris's online course Growing Your Profitable Microgreens Business https://microgreens.teachable.com/courses Follow Diego on IG https://instagram.com/diegofooter Small Farm Tools and Microgreens Supplies https://www.paperpot.co/ Support my content while you shop at Amazon: https://amzn.to/32FYCqW

Chris Thoreau has grow microgreens for over 10 years, but he recently reached the point where he Chris realized it was time to do something else and move on.  Find out what changed and why Chris is changing with it. Chris's online course Growing Your Profitable Microgreens Business https://microgreens.teachable.com/courses Follow Diego on IG https://instagram.com/diegofooter Small Farm Tools and M...

Vincent Cuneo talks about what has made him successful selling microgreens to small independent grocery stores.  He discusses giving samples, shelf placement, packaging, and credit for unsold product.  Then Chris Thoreau joins the conversation to troubleshoot some growing issues Vincent is having. Connect with Vincent Cuneo: http://www.agrarianfeast.com/ Chris's online course Growing Your Profitab...

In this episode Chris Thoreau joins me to explore the idea - Can you actually make a living growing microgreens?   Is it actually possible or just an unrealistic dream? If it is possible what does that look like? How big does the business need to be?  How much do you need to be selling?  Would you need employees? TLDR: It is possible, with the right combination of luck, skills and hard work. Some...

Molds, fungus, viruses - oh my! Depending on your growing environment you may encounter one or perhaps even all of these diseases. And what do you do once you encounter them? If there's a small section of mold on your tray, for example, what do you do with that tray? Do you scrap the whole tray or can you harvest the unaffected part? We ask these questions with long-time grower and microgreen expe...

When you start your farm business, one think that you need to think about is your business structure. Sole proprietorships and LLCs are common ways to go, but there are also other options, like co-operatives... That's how farmer Chris Thoreau of Food Pedalers structure his business, and that's the subject of today's show... Today I'm going up to Vancouver to talk to microgreen farmer Chris Thoreau...

Microgreen Grower Chris Thoreau and I discuss a variety of reasons why microgreens might not be a fit for you. This is a realistic look at what growing microgreens as a business is really like.  From quick turn around times week after week to attention to detail to scaleability to the day to day drudgery - they aren't a perfect business, yet nothing is.   Chris's online course Growing Your Profita...

When you are only growing a 10 day crop, how much of an affect does light quality and temperature have on the crop? A lot. Chris is in Vancouver where he sees day lengths change from 8 hours at the winter solstice to 16 hours at the summer solstice; a large change which affects how much light crops get to grow. Less light in winter means slower or no crop growth. If you are a farmer, you get this....

If customers keep asking if you have certain crop, and you don't, should you grow it? It depends. And that's the focus of today's show: When, How, and Why to Start Producing A New Microgreen Crop Chris's online course Growing Your Profitable Microgreens Business http://bit.ly/learntogrowmicrogreens Follow Diego on IG https://instagram.com/diegofooter Small Farm Tools and Microgreens Supplies https...