Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart Episode Summary In this special episode of Farm Small Farm Smart, educator and longtime microgreens grower Chris Thoreau talks to Lily Evans of Short Roots Urban Farm in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Lily shares her experience of how she started her microgreens business by bootstrapping and how she steadily grows her operation. Today’s Guest: Lily Evans Lily Evans is the founder and owner of microgreens business Short Roots Urban Farm in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Having dabbled in growing and doing market research for microgreens since 2016, Short Roots establ ..read more

If you’ve tried growing multiple flats of microgreens before, then there’s a good chance that you’ve probably encountered the issue of having your crops stuck to the bottom of the flat stacked on top of it. Well, if you’ve tried a couple of fixes, and you have yet to find a method that does the trick, then you’re in luck because in a video released by Paperpot Co., Urban Farmer Curtis Stone shares a couple of fixes to that problem. The Paperpot Germination Tray The Paperpot Germination Trays are durable flats that are just a little bit bigger than the usual 10×20” trays many microgreen grower ..read more

Great produce come from great seeds. Today we’ll talk about sourcing the best seeds from reliable and reputable suppliers. Longtime microgreens grower Chris Thoreau joins us to talk about how to do just that—what to look for, what to avoid, and how important pathogen testing really is. As a microgreen farmer, choosing good seed is one of your main inputs outside of soil. Why did you feel that it’s important to talk seed again? (2:00) If you don’t have good seed, you can’t grow good microgreens—and that’s basic. Choosing seed doesn’t just mean variety and how fast they grow. With microgreens ..read more

Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart Episode Summary While 30-inch beds are the standard for market gardening, it may or may not be the best bed width to implement depending on the farm’s context. In this episode of Farm Small Farm Smart, farmer Dean Buttacavoli of Cabbage Throw Farm shares his experience throwing pathways out the window and converting their entire plot into farmland with 15-inch row spacing. Today’s Guest: Dean Buttacavoli Dean Buttacavoli began growing vegetables in 2012 before taking up a farm management position two years later. Now, he and fiancée Emily are r ..read more

Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart Episode Summary In this special episode of Farm Small Farm Smart, educator and longtime microgreens grower Chris Thoreau welcomes guest Pierre Marlow of Alberta, Canada to share his experience discovering microgreens and starting a microgreens business as a retirement plan. Today’s Guest: Pierre Marlow Pierre Marlow is an entrepreneur running a lighting company in Alberta, Canada. After losing some business because of the pandemic, he looked into other worthwhile ventures until he chanced upon microgreens and decided to pursue a business as a r ..read more

Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart Episode Summary In this special episode of Farm Small Farm Smart, educator and longtime microgreens grower Chris Thoreau welcomes guest Michael Quinn. Michael talks about his experience starting a microgreens business in Northern Ireland, the regional differences that can come with a startup business, and how a startup can be intentional with creating social impact right from the get-go. Today’s Guest: Michael Quinn Michael Quinn is the owner of the quickly evolving microgreens business, Mourne Microgreens based in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland. Wh ..read more

Listen to more episodes of Farm Small Farm Smart Episode Summary In this special episode of Farm Small Farm Smart, educator and longtime microgreens grower Chris Thoreau welcomes guest Jacob Goldfarb of Goldfarm Canada to talk about how he grew his microgreens business from 20 trays a week to 120 trays a week, as well as the challenges he faced with growing his farming operation. Today’s Guest: Jacob Goldfarb Owner of Goldfarm Canada, Jacob Goldfarb began his microgreens journey in 2019 after discovering their multitude of benefits. Growing out of Guelph, Goldfarm Canada is a steadily growing ..read more

Last week, Chris Thoreau and I talked about sourcing high-quality seeds from reputable suppliers. Today, we’ll get to know more about one such supplier. Lisa Mumm of Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds joins us to talk about the history of the company, and what they do to ensure they’re delivering safe, quality products.   Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds (00:55) We have a long history of selling seeds for sprouts and microgreens, and I’ve been involved with the farm for as long as I can remember. By the time I realized the degree I’m taking up in college wasn’t a good fit for me, my parents were thinking abou ..read more

  Being a stay-at-home parent raising three kids and becoming an entrepreneur of a microgreen business sound like two full-time jobs. Can you imagine doing both at the same time? It’s not easy, but it’s possible. Today, Laura Patterson from Hand-Grown Greens will share with us just how she does it. Family Dynamics (02:50) I grew up on a family farm, and I was committed to the idea of not being a farmer. I worked as a registered nurse for 12 years while my husband was the stay-at-home parent. The dynamic shifted when I started missing out on my kids. I did some soul-searching for other o ..read more