Organic Farm Moving into Microgreens, any Help?

[Guest guest]

So my family has been farming on the Central Coast of California for the past

two decades. We own a meagre 15 acres that is worked entirely by my family. We

grow pretty much anything that we can and are completely organic.

I left the farm at 17 for a five year stint in the military and afterwards I

decided to use the GI Bill and receive an education. I now go to California

Polytechnic University and study soil science and sustainable agriculture.

We have always produced very high quality produce and our prices are incredibly

low. My family is firm in their belief that fresh organic produce should be both

available and affordable to everyone, but as you can imagine profits have been

slim because of this.

This is where microgreens comes in for us..... a product that can be produced

quickly and with a great bit of profit if done right so that the rest of our

produce will continue to remain affordable. We hope to move to wheatgrass and

some sprouts also soon.

Does anybody have any tips or words of wisdom to help us out? I have already

constructed the tray tables from old doors and wood from some pallets I found

and have ordered quite a bit of seed. I have purchased " sure to grow " pads,

10x20 trays and humidity domes and I am installing the light fixtures tomorrow.

These will include regular " daylight " fluorescent bulbs...... Hopefully this

will be okay?

Does anybody know the best way to harvest? should we shear the microgreens and

sell them already cut..... or cut squares from the pad and sell them still

growing.... I have found it hard to find biodegradeable containers, so any

suggestions there?

Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading it!