Microgreen Farm Tour at Cahaba Club

Look at these GORGEOUS Microgreens!!!

It might be a Teeny Tiny plant but it is bursting with nutrients.

Intense flavor, vibrant colors, and off the chart nutritional values are quickly making micro greens the next big thing on the food scene. At a fraction of the size, micro greens can contain up to 4 times the nutrients of their full grown counterparts. These tiny wonders are harvested at the peak of their development, usually around two weeks.

That’s me below in the picture.. In the middle of MicroGreen Heaven, taking photographs and phone calls at the same time..  Im at the Cahaba Club Herbal Outpost and there is something almost magical about this place.  A Nursery for Baby plants…Tiny little vegetables and herbs being born.

 Seedlings so small and so young, less than 14 days old are known as “micro-greens”.  Still popular with gourmet chefs, used as an elegant tasty garnish for salads, sandwiches and soups,  However,  micro greens are now being recognized as a healthy superfood.

Lately I have been loving incorporating more Raw Foods into our diet so when I was invited to take a tour of this amazing microgreen farm in Florida, I was SUPER excited..

Cahaba Club sells hydroponic micro-greens, micro-herbs, micro-vegetables, exotic tiny greens, tiny lettuces and a variety of pea shoots. Their products are harvested daily on a cut to order basis and shipped nationwide.

The beautiful property sits on 10 acres in Odessa Fl surrounded by large oaks, cypress and a fish pond.

As you drive down the winding road, It’s a little microgreen paradise.

You hear the birds chirping outside..

You smell the fresh microgreens as you walk past these ventilators.. and you could really smell the aroma of onion… aaaaahhhhh

micro onions… so yummy.  Like a chive but even more delicate

Inside the greenhouse, you hear the hum of the fans and you are surrounded by all this freshness.. It really does smell amazing in here.

But Don’t call them sprouts….  

MICROGREENS vs SPROUTS

While they bear some resemblance to sprouts, they are very different. Sprouts are seeds that are germinated in water just long enough (usually 48 hours)  to grow roots, a stem and pale, underdeveloped leaves in a humid condition..  Micro greens on the other hand, are planted and grown in soil (or hydroponically), with low humidity and proper air circulation.  They also need at least 7 days before being harvested.

So…Sprouts are grown with only water and Microgreens are grown in a container filled with soil or a medium.  Microgreens grow past the sprout stages and develop roots and their tiny leaves.

What is sooo amazing about this particular microgreens farm is that everything is grown hydroponically so there is NO soil which means NO CLEANING.. Let me repeat.. NO CLEANING.. NO RINSING Required.. (or recommended as the delicate greens will not stay fresh)

Cahaba Club grows their microgreens hydroponically and uses a grow medium called perlite instead of soil.

What is perlite you ask?  Perlite is a mined material, a form of volcanic glass that when rapidly heated to more than 1600 deg. f. it pops much like popcorn as the water vaporizes and makes countless tiny bubbles. Perlite is one of the best hydroponic growing mediums around

pretty cool…

I had the pleasure of spending the morning with Marvin, the owner, aka the Microgreen Master, who showed me just about everything they had to offer at the outpost from the Microgreens to the Edible Flowers down to the Pea shoots grown in… Not a greenhouse, a Blackhouse..

Yes, complete darkness!!!

He has 21 Greenhouses and 3 Blackhouses with over 30+ varieties of microgreens

Yellow pea shoots are the tender leaves of a newly growing pea plant. They have a delicate texture and their taste reminds me of fresh spring peas. They are yellow because they are grown in complete darkness.  If they were exposed to light before harvesting, they would turn green.

 These yummy little onions still have the seed attached ..yes you can eat them..

I turned them into the easiest appetizer ever… a baguette with goat cheese topped with microgreens….

The micro onion and goat cheese is so ridulicouly good… I could eat 10 more of them..

Just top with any microgreens for a quick super simple elegant appetizer

Delicious….

I also used them in salads and a coleslaw

At Cahaba Clubs, ALL of their microgreens are grown using hydroponics.  The Benefits of hydroponic is using less water than typical growers and all of their products receive nutrient rich water delivered directly to the root via micro-drip irrigation.  The water is then recycled through the nutrient tank, tested and reused to water the plants.  Talk about someone who embodies the practice of sustainable farming…

Here you can see the microgreens at different growth stages.

They are able to grow superior products year-round in the environmentally controlled greenhouses, protecting the micro greens from outside elements.  All of these steps contribute to making their products exceptional in quality, taste and shelf life.

Can Microgreens be cute? Because I just think they are..

This is one of my personal favorites.. Pea Tendrils

I LOVE these…

and micro lettuce

Intense flavor in such a little bite… Micro radish had a peppery kind of spicy taste.  MicroBeets tasted just like a beet..

Oh.. and the packaging?  It is amazing..  The microgreens will stay fresh for at least 2 weeks if you store them properly or if you haven’t eaten them all by then.

Here is the Cabbage, broccoli and kale microgreens

a little rainbow mix

and a yummy salad for dinner..

 I use them on salads, sandwiches, wraps, etc.   You can also substitute them for anything you’d use lettuce for. 

on soup

It is also gorgeous (and tasty) as a garnish

These are the freshest tasting Microgreens I have ever had..

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Want to know more about MicroGreens?  This is the BEST Book I have ever read on MicroGreens.

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But what if you just want to grow your own microgreens??? It is SUPER easy.. A microgreen is the next stage after a “sprout” it just needs soil or some medium to grow in.  I have written a post on it HERE

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