Garden of Eden Urban Farming

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Overview

This course focuses on the economics of operating a local indoor gardening venture. Topics include.

Identifying the market
- measuring local demand for fresh produce
- meeting community expectations
- selecting outlets (your own, others...?)
Capital requirements
- growing methods
- competing equipment suppliers
- making choices
- cost-benefit analysis
Implementation planning
- configuration and production modeling
- final selection
- acquisition
- installation
- testing and adaptation
Production
- scheduling
- planting
- cultivation
- harvesting
- delivery
Did we mention testing and adaptation? Keep it up!

Resources

Grow This!

Your first µGreens garden.

6 easy steps, 1 hard one

Vary your diet!

Microgreens Recipes

Eat your results!

More about µGreens

Microgreens at GOE Urban Farming.

CLOSE

Step One: Good Quality Soil: Fill a tray with 1-1.5″ of good quality media and tamp down with your hand or a flat piece of wood or cardboard. The container can be anything wide and shallow, from garden center bought to upcycled plastic salad boxes! Similar results can be achieved in a hydroponic environment or with alternate growth media.
Step Two: Organic Seeds: Sow your seeds (lots of choices here: buckwheat, sunflower, salad greens and more!). Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the soil. Sow quite densely to get a good crop. Gently press the seeds into the soil to get good seed to soil contact (don’t bury them!). The density of sowing will be something you get a feel for as you practice, it really depends on how large you will let your microgreens get before harvesting.
Step Three: Water and Wrap: Lay damp paper towels over your seeds. This creates a moisture blanket to aid quick germination. Give your trays a good soaking using a sprayer or shower-header watering can. It is important that your seeds and soil stay moist for the germination stage. Note: you could cover with soil, but the paper towel is quick and easy and has the bonus that you can peek under to check your seeds progress.
Step Four: Cover and Wait: Cover your trays. This is where the salad boxes come in super useful: you can just put the lid back on! Garden centers also sell special clear lids. Either way, this helps speed germination by trapping heat and moisture.
Step Five: Germination: Germination speed depends on many factors including seed type, heat and moisture. Keep peeking under the paper towel to check on the progress and make sure the soil doesn’t dry out. Once you see a good amount of seedlings popping up you are ready to remove the paper towel and expose the seedlings to light.
Step Six: Light: Light will make your microgreens turn green and grow dense and healthy. A lack of light will force them to go thin and ‘leggy’ as they reach out to find light. A sunny windowsill or porch can be great locations. Grow lights are an option if there is no natural light. At this stage the plastic lid should be removed to allow air circulation, but take care to make sure the soil doesn’t fully dry out.
Step Seven: Harvest: Microgreens can be harvested any different stages and this is largely personal choice. You certainly want to harvest them before they get to big because the amount of soil and space isn’t enough to keep the larger plants healthy. Once harvested they can be rinsed, dried gently with paper towels and stored in the refrigerator in a zip lock bag.

Container Farm

Farm in a box.

Freight Farm Process

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