It’s well known that making small changes to your diet can make huge differences and these changes are micro.
Microgreens are the increasingly popular way to add amazing flavours and textures to meals without breaking the bank. The driver behind it is the belief that eating clean, organic food shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.
And for Huntly couple Mitch and Karla Smith, microgreens are changing their lives in more ways than one. The hardworking couple both work full time and care for their children. But they also find time to run what is becoming one of Huntly’s classiest small businesses- growing tasty microgreens for the past 18 months and selling locally for just on six months now. Farmers’ markets are on their horizon this summer too.
They split their ‘shifts’ on their hydroponic microgreen growing facility, each working after their own business day (or in Mitch’s case night shift) so someone is always on hand to nurture the plants along. At present, they say sleep is an optional extra!
“We’re putting in these hours because we genuinely believe in what this can become, says Mitch. “Our end goal is to acquire a decent plot of land, scale up, and show how easy it is to provide for families and communities.
“We want to change how people look at where their food comes from. We are growing on our own property, and our shed has been converted to a microgreens area and hydroponics. Our carport is now converted to a processing area, and we use our backyard for field produce.”
The couple are currently working through the verification process for MPI certification, covering biosecurity and food safety. Their aim is to sell microgreens direct to cafés and restaurants – as well as the public – cutting out the middleman (and cost to the consumer) by being the distributor.
Mitch says café owners and chefs say their biggest pain point is inconsistency of quality and availability from traditional suppliers – and that’s something he’s very confident their microgreens can address.
Their motivation comes from constant disappointment about the state of vegetables available in supermarkets and large stores; frequently months old and spoiling quickly. They say it’s not the fault of hard-working farmers who pour everything into growing a quality crop; it’s just a broken system.
“We want to build on 100 % transparency. Through our social media and YouTube channel, our community can follow the entire journey of their food from seed to harvest; the wins, learning curves, and the real daily hustle that goes into it.
“Plus, there’s a lot of science behind it. It’s so much more than just putting something in the dirt and watering it. I hold a Diploma in Business, am currently studying Horticulture, and I bring a bit of my bodybuilding mindset into the garden as well. I’m fascinated by the science, nutrition, and fine-tuning required to make things truly thrive,” says Mitch.
From body building to soil inspiration
Mitch gave up his lifestyle of 15 years of body building due to injuries and surgery, and instead found a passion in the soil, with inspiration coming from other YouTubers on channels dedicated to gardening.
“What we grow is seasonal but we’re in the process of setting up hydroponics to grow out of season vegetables. We currently sell through Facebook, but our next goal is selling at markets and starting a webpage.
“I’d say our most popular produce is snow peas. This is most likely due to inconsistent availability at supermarkets; and they are big, crunchy and sweet. We’re yet to have a summer season but we’re really excited for all the different variety of vegetables we’ll be growing,” they say.
Karla says switching off is difficult, especially for Mitch. “The children and family time is by far the best way to pull us both away from the business, which can become all consuming, especially when we see how much customers are appreciating the variety and freshness.”
But, the couple says, “we are pouring every spare second we have into making this dream work.
By Anna Bell
What’s coming up- and where you can find them
Tomatoes are recently sown, cucumber, bell pepper, eggplant and chilli seeds are getting ready for a September transplant for summer harvests.
There are a few beds of broccoli, cauliflower, kale, sprouting broccoli, and cabbage maturing over the next couple months.
Plans are underway for beans, peas (of a couple varieties), radish, turnips, corn, carrots, different lettuce varieties, silverbeetmbeets, and zucchini over summer
Check out TikTok, dirt.rich.life; YouTube: @dirtrichlife, or Facebook, KMS Produce
