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market-farming - [Market-farming] Micro Prices Restaurants (was: Re: Kale price restaurants)

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Micro Prices Restaurants (was: Re: Kale price restaurants)
  • Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:25:01 -0500

We are doing micro-greens.  This is our first year not doing trays.  We direct sow into the ground in heavy bands.  We use mizuna (green and purple) and icicle radish as our primary or base micro with mini beet greens, micro swiss chard, and two or three varieties of bib/oakleaf.

We are still playing around with our pricing but have been able to profitably produce and sell micros for 7.50 to 8.00 a pound.  We know exactly what our per foot production cost and yields are once they all start setting their first true leaves and we can supply four locations, a retailer, and a market with about 30 pounds of them weekly from a very small space relative to our total production.

The 7.50 price represents a base unwashed price where they are have been dunked, dirt removed allowed to drip dry and then bagged.  The 8.00 price is for spinning.  We can spin in bucket spinner all the lettuce we produce over the course of an hour and even if I were paying my folks twice what I was at an additional .50 per pound it covers the cost of additional labor.  The big thing is seed price since its requiring about 15 times the amount of seed to generate the same poundage of other lettuce varieties at a mature stage.  Almost all micros are young enough to still have minimal root development and are simply pulled directly from the soil.  This increases the amount of time they stay fresh and we do this for adult lettuce as well for a couple of our customers.

Comparatively the guys that do micro trays are selling a fraction of a pound for two to three times as much.  I have plans to do it all season round and double the price for winter production, but not this year and probably not next year.  We are adding a garden manager and adding three acres of potatoes, expanding our small grains, and expanding our garlic production.  The model can be done VERY easily though in a green/hoop house and we are investigating a soilless medium to decrease the amount of handling to get clean.

I've included a link some photos that I am putting together for 2011 of the micros including scale weight for 12" of linear row (3" band) and photos of the row of micro so you can get an appreciation.  In this case the row is icicle radish.  Any radish will do flavor-wise, but we have found this variety to do best and have the best characteristics when grown in extra high density.  You can also see a completed plated micro mix at the end as well as individual micro elements.


We had a tour of urban farmers come out and several mentioned our system of growing micros was similar to the Spin system and now that I have had a chance to read over their system I guess you could look at it like that.  The same plot gets probably 12 new plantings over a three season period, maybe a bit less depending on final freeze.  Imagine the heaviest planting to harvest is around 21 days at most.  that's the joy or working with radish and mizuna.  You plant it and three days later its pushing up through the surface.  

Lastly, at market we are selling it for 10.00/pound and its the first thing gone every week.  

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106



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