Figured I'd share (super simple indoor garden).

[Pippen Penelope Park]

MICROGREENS!

So, I'm a homebody, probably like a lot of other people who visit this site.
It seems like a lot of people are capable of jobs online, and it seems there's a growing demand, but that personally isn't for me.  Cool for those of you who are capable of it.

I'm a newbie gardener (well, a few years, but no prior experience whatsoever), and it shows, lol.  Some success, a lot of failure, but it's all good, and it's really neat to me to watch the plants sprout up and grow into things I can eat or enjoy looking at.

Back to the point,
Microgreens seem to be a growing business that can be somewhat profitable done from a small scale home type environment.
It doesn't seem to make anyone rich, but it does seem to provide enough supplemental income that a lot of people are finding it worth the time.  If you're at home anyway.........it's really not much trouble to get started.

Today, October 10th, 2017 I bought a starter set up to see how I like it.
It's super simple the way I'm going to try to do it, and not much cost.

I have a couple of fluorescent shop lights I'm not using, so there is no cost for me as far as lighting goes, but let's go crazy and say lighting costs $100.  It's way cheaper, but let's go high.

I also bought a ten pack of trays on amazon today, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XD5CBPF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1  (this is the expensive set, there are also sets of ten for $10, but they are a bit more flimsy from reviews.)

You're going to need some seed.  I chose pea seed since it seems popular as a microgreen, and I'm quite confident in my ability to grow peas.   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010WDCDGS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Soil, here's where I might have an advantage over a lot of people.  I make my own.  If you're curious, I can put up a link, but it'd be easier for most to buy Fox Farms Ocean Forest Potting Mix.  It's crazy expensive (it's what hobby marijuana growers use) considering it's just dirt.  One cubic foot of it here (a typical large bag of potting soil) is $20.  It seems to be available in most places.  https://www.amazon.com/FoxFarm-FX14...684490&sr=1-3&keywords=fox+farms+ocean+forest  Ouch, it's expensive from Amazon.......but they're factoring shipping.......get it local, or source another good potting mix.
Seeing as how I've never used my soil to grow microgreens, I also might have to buy potting mix if I can't get it to work.

A good source of water would be good too.  My city water is very hard here, so I'll probably use rainwater or reverse osmosis water.  Hard water has a lot of minerals in it, and they tend to build up, but it might be a non issue for microgreens?  I don't know yet.

It's super simple, and I won't go into great detail, but basically fill the plastic trays with soil, tamp the soil down a bit with a board to even it/compress it a bit, sprinkle a heavy layer of seed over the soil (it looks like a majority of the dirt would be covered by seed, but the seed wouldn't be stacked on itself (each seed needs to be making direct contact with the soil).  Tamp the seeds gently into the soil for even better contact, and water twice a day (or so) keeping the soil damp, but not wet.

Ten to twenty days later you have a tray full of microgreens ready to eat or sell.  The beauty of microgreens for a small local farmer is that they don't store well/long enough for commercial farms to be competitive.  

This is just what I've watched on youtube, and read about a bit on the internet.

It seems like a fun time killer if nothing else, worst case is I'll probably get to eat some of the healthiest food on the planet, best case I can sell some locally for some extra $$$$.  I don't expect I ever will sell it, but it's fun to make believe in just this moment.

Feel free to school me on it if you're doing it, or end up doing it.  
It'd be fun to see!



Oh, if you're serious, look up Curtis Stone/Microgreens on youtube.  He has really got small scale urban farming down to a science, and he says his microgreens are his most profitable crop. 
Obviously there's more to it that just this post, but it doesn't seem like there's that much more.

Blah, blah,

just sharing.

edit, technically I think peas are called shoots, and not microgreens, but it's virtually the same as far as growing ( radish seed would be a microgreen at the same stage as the pea).

 

[Drew]

Huh! I went to Youtube to look up the guy I was watching yesterday (Urban Farming) and wouldn't you know it, it was Curtis Stone!

I've thought of growing vegatables. Some day I would like to have a small farm. We currently have chickens (for eggs mostly, but some "meat" chickens too. Come November, it'll be time to "harvest" them. Mmmmm.)

Is this your first time growing peas then? Would love to see some updates and what you are learning.

 

[TheRealCallie]

If it's in a pot, I kill it. lol

I plant a small outdoor garden every spring. Some things die (cauliflower EVERY YEAR. I don't know, whatever), but most of it usually does well.
I suck at weeding, by the end of the season, the weeds are usually overtaking the garden because I just sttop doing it. lol
I've been debating planting some fruit trees, but am hesitant since trees seem to die here too. Although, I think that might be thanks to the person who farms the field behind my house spraying that nasty killer crap on the crops. The trees wouldn't be plants near the edge the of the property, so maybe they would do better.

 

[Drew]

If it's in a pot, I kill it.  lol

lol I know how you feel. I tried planting rose bushes one year... all died. I figure there has got to be some hardy plants that won't die by those of us with the touch of death to all things green.

 

[Pippen Penelope Park]

Come on Debbie Downer gardeners!


I'm a newbie too, so I can't really answer questions, and if I do, it's your fault if you listen to a dummy.

Drew, go for it!  I'm hooked!  Lol about having found Curtis Stone.  I'm shocked how many people are actually giving the small scale farming thing a go.  It seems like you'd have to have a ton of discipline to pull off a profit.  
Chickens!  I call them my minions!  The best helpers a gardener can have.  I use them for their poop, but me and all four dogs eat organic eggs every single day (in season).  My dogs each get one raw egg, shell and all mixed with their food daily.  I eat up to six per day if I have them, cooked of course.  My chickens are now eating a huge area of last spring's garden, eating all the pests left, scratching the surface up, and fertilizing the ground as they work.  Me and the dogs play catch and watch the chickens do all the work, lol.
Here is my chicken pit of despair (don't google pit of despair, it'll make you cry.......don't say I didn't warn you).  
They live in my in ground pool when I have plants out in the garden.

Cool that you raise the birds for meat.  I've fed a few roosters to the dogs, raw, and they really loved them, but I haven't really tried raising them for meat myself yet.  I might consider it in the future.  
I'm also considering raising rabbits just for their meat to feed the dogs.......but that'll be later.  (oh and rabbit poop is gold for a garden) 
I don't eat very much meat, so it's just never been something of a priority for me.

Callie, I'm done with weeds, because I'm done listening to man.  The most fertile ground anywhere on the planet is always going to be in the middle of an old forested area.  Yet, there aren't weeds??????  
I'm using the back to eden technique, and I've pulled less than a dozen weeds out of my entire garden (the areas covered in wood chips anyway) this year.  It's amazing.  The ground under my wood chips is black and moist and full of bugs and worms and LIFE, anywhere not covered is dry, compacted, and LIFELESS.  Exposed dirt is bad, that's why nature is always trying to cover it back up............and then man comes along and uncovers it again?  
You mentioned fruit trees, I tried them last fall.    Here's the main group I planted, the two apple trees, and pluot died this summer.  (I actually lost a persimmon in the front yard, four more apple trees in another area of the back yard, and I set the female pistachio tree on fire!!!!!!!  hahahahaha  Yeah, that was an accident.  lol  Oh yeah, I planted four fig trees and lost two of them.  All less than a year ago.)  

Blah, blah, yeah, I ramble.

Yes, I will try to update my progress on the microgreens.  As of now, I have a cup of Bird's Eye frozen peas (from the frozen foods section at the grocery store) soaking in a cup of water that I'll try to sprout.  They won't because they've been processed and were probably treated not to sprout, but it's just an experiment.  The trays and seed will be here in a few days, so it'll be a while before I start the real experiment.

Happy growing!  

 

[Pippen Penelope Park]

Microgreens/shoot supplies arrived today.

The trays are heavier duty than I've seen before, but I wish they were a little more rigid.  They'll be fine, though.
They don't have holes in them, so I drilled some out in one tray.  (if you're doing hydroponic, you wouldn't want holes, but I'm using soil)

I had some old potting mix, and since I was too lazy to make my own today, I used it straight from the bag.  It's from the same company I referred to in the original post.  Either one has worked for me.

The frozen peas show no signs of sprouting.  They were soaked in a plastic cup for 24 hours, rinsed, wrapped in a paper towel, and placed in a zip lock bag for another 24 hours.  I do not think they will sprout.........and I will not plant them until I see some sort of life from them.

I grew tons of sunflowers this year, and saved the seeds from most of them.  I got maybe only a pound or two of seed from everything I grew, (a couple of the flowers were over 13 feet tall).  They were also soaked for 24 hours, rinsed, wrapped in a paper towel, and placed in a zip lock bag.  They are sprouting (see pictures).  I have confidence a lot of them will germinate.  

So, today I filled up one tray with dirt, and am seeing how it goes.  I'll soak the newly arrived pea seeds tonight, and try to get them planted tomorrow night.  I have confidence they will sprout, so I won't wait for any sign of life from them before proceeding.

I made a simple tamp down board out of some scrap wood to evenly press the entire tray down to compact the soil evenly, and then to press the seeds into the soil slightly.  I did not cover the seeds with any soil, they are just covered by a damp paper towel, and then I left the tamp board on top of the paper towel to simulate the weight of soil so the seeds have something to push against when they send their tap root down.  It will also darken it.

I will not worry about any sort of lighting for a few days.  The tray is sitting in my garage right now.  It hits about 80F in the day, and about 50F at night right now.  Good enough not to have to worry about supplemental heat.

I'm starting slow, and just want to see what it takes to get one full tray done from start to finish.

Pictures of the whole mess.  
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5oFnZbQPVplsxGqd2

 

[Pippen Penelope Park]

Thinking out loud.

Okay, so I just watched this clip about microgreens in a storage container.  

I'm thinking, 
move back into the house,
convert the class c rv I'm currently living in into a greenhouse,
and grow microgreens in it.
Maybe a tenth of what's being grown in the video, if that, but it'd just be me.


It's just fun to daydream.........it'll probably never happen.
but you never know.


My biggest hurdle will be the market, or lack there of here.
That being said, I live in a unique area, with people who have $$$$$$ to spend.

There are several spas/resorts/within miles of the house, not to mention a brand new medical college less than five minute's walk from the front door.  This is an outdoorsy/healthy minded area from what I can tell.  

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/a...resort-to-be-built-near-tuacahn/#.WeFrDEt9600  This is a ten minute bike ride, or half hour walk away from me.

This is about the same distance in opposite direction.  http://movara.com/

This is closer than the other two.  https://utah.com/red-mountain-resort

This community is just down the street.  http://www.kayentautah.com/  Wealthy health conscious snowbirds tend to congregate here in the winter.

It SEEMS like there's a market here (or could be, given some education), although I'm not sure if someone(s) already has it cornered.

Just spewing what's on my mind..........