A gardening failure turned to a lesson learned for Greensted success

What started as a gardening failure has turned into a garden success story for Dean and Jayne Bredlau of Zumbrota, MN.

The couple grows and sells microgreens from their urban farm to grocery stores, co-ops, farmers markets and a handful of restaurants.

Their story starts a few years ago when Dean had an opportunity to try his hand at gardening. A friend offered a portion of his land for Dean’s garden. He was armed with seed and implements to start the project, but, as time went on, no amount of time spent nurturing it nor amount of water watering it would make things grow in the very sandy soil. It seemed the only thing getting something to eat was the gophers.

While such a dismal start would cause many to leave gardening, it inspired Dean. He learned, through all the trials, that he really likes growing things!

After the growing season, Dean and Jayne began researching all things gardening. They looked for overall gardening knowledge. The researched season extension ideas and they looked at YouTube videos on the subject. One topic that kept popping up was microgreen production.

They got some flats, seeds, potting soil and lights and tried their hand at microgreens and…Whallah…it grew! And, they add, there were no gophers to eat their wares.

The couple started growing microgreens for their own consumption. Green is great, says Jayne who eats a lot of green stuff. Seh has food allergies to several food groups and has found microgreens to be a great accompaniment to her meals. While grocery store greens are lackluster, the greens grown in their own backyard are great at adding flavor to salads, sandwiches and the like. They eat it on everything!

Jayne, while working as a convention services planner, took some to an executive chef at the Kahler Grand Hotel. The chef had been purchasing California grown microgreens from a supplier as Dean and Jayne continued to develop their own signature blends. The chef kept using whatever Jayne would bring and finally said, “When are you going to start bringing me these so I can stop buying (from a supplier?)”

And their business was born!

Initially, they wanted to sell to more restaurants, but discovered the chefs wanted a pennies price point. They were invited to a winter farmers market in March 2018 and had such a blast, they signed up for four farmers markets that summer.

The Greensted microgreens.

In 2019, they produced and distributed nearly 13,000 units totaling 1,721 pounds and sold to stores, co-ops, farmers markets and a few restaurants. They drove 24,410 miles to distribute.

They called their business My Sweet Greens MN, but were issued a cease and desist order by a nationwide restaurant chain called sweetgreen. Through an attorney, they negotiated an agreement where they began transitioning to their new name - The Greensted.

How do they grow microgreens?

Microgreens are grown year-round indoors using on flats measuring 10-by-20 inches. The flats are placed on racks. Microgreens like it dark during germination and warm and bright for growing. They plant twice weekly - 40 to 50 flats each time - and cover the flats for two to three days. Once the flats are uncovered, the plants go under LED lights for the remaining four to six days of growth. The microgreens are harvested by cutting the plant at the soil.

“Since we grow in flats indoors, no weed or pest control is needed,” Jayne said. “The soil is an organic mix of compost, perlite, mericulite vermiculite and potting soil. The soil and seed have all the nutrition/energy needed to grow the microgreen for its short growth cycle. No fertilizer is needed.”

Microgreens go on just about anything and everything, she said. Salads, sandwiches, wrpas, eggs, soups and smoothies are a few ways the Bredlaus use them. Their customers have added it to Pad Thai, stir fry meals, poke bowls, chopped into guacamole, chicken salad and even a zesty microgreen pesto.

Check out recipes and more information at their website, thegreensted.com.

What is the signfiicance of The Greensted?

The Greensted is a regenerative project urban farm which means they maintain a professional commitment to living, farming and providing food grown and distributed with attention to their three-fold mission, as seen on their logo.

Blue Leaf: Sustain. To be here tomorrow. Sourcing materials, packaging, production, distribution is purposeful towards efficiency and sustainability.

Red Leaf: Regenerate. To provide for a better tomorrow. We incorporate innovative practices to recycle, upcycle and compost production byproducts.

Green Leaf: Connect. Communities are here today and tomorrow. Providing fresh local food promotes healthy people, creating a healthier economy and better connected community.

The Greensted - like “farmsted” is an umbrella for our current business plan and ones to come. We grow and sell microgreens year round, distributed via grocery stores, co-ops, farmers markets and supplied to a handful of restaurants who promote sourcing locally from farmers who engage in sustainable and regenerative practices.