Microgreens make great mix for Homegrown Garden

Rick Abrahamson isn’t limited by the seasons when he gardens. In fact, this past winter his “garden” was indoors. 

He has been raising microgreens in the Fergus Falls, MN house Rick and his wife, Christine call home. 

All he needs is a tray filled with media where the micro greens flourish under “grow” lights.

He’s sold the microgreens and hanging baskets at the Fergus Falls, MN Farmers Market. This year, his garden offerings will be more extensive thanks to the couple’s purchase of the former Bluebird Gardens near Fergus Falls. 

The two have been busy on the property getting plants ready for the season. The proof is in their Homegrown Garden Facebook page where they have posted several pictures of plants and flowers they are raising for sales starting in May. 

It’s certainly exciting times for this couple! 

For Rick, raising plants comes naturally. He had good teachers in his grandparents who operated a floral shop. The shop also had a garden center where they sold bedding plants, as well. 

As he helped his grandparents with their business, relearned the keys to growing plants, to nurture them and keep them healthy. 

“That got me interested in horticulture,” said Rick who was raised in Fargo, ND. 

It was a key factor in his decision to pursue a horticultural career at North Dakota State University. At the college, he ran vegetable varietal trials and says he is “probably the only guy you will meet who has done a thesis on carrots.” 

He earned his Masters Degree in soil science and went on to teach production agriculture at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. 

During Rick’s tenure in Crookston, he managed the campus garden where students grew micro greens that were used at the college chancellor’s dinner.

Rick and Christine married more than four years ago and roughly two years ago, he was laid off from his college position. There were not enough students, he said, to support two full-time instructors in production agriculture. 

He used his passion for plants and agriculture to teach, via zoom, a farmer training program through the 4-Directions Development which serves the Red Lake Nation. The 4-Directions Development provides business development services. 

During the three-hours-a-day classes Rick Taught, he focused on farming on a small scale. 

“I felt myself thinking that was something I wanted to work at,” he said.  

He purchased a green house and set it up in the couple’s backyard. 

“I got some micro greens from a grower near Hoffman and he got me thinking about (growing micro greens),” Rick said. “He took me to a small green house he’d built where de does some hanging baskets and he talked about micro greens.” 

That got Rick thinking about growing his own. 

He purchased some of his supplies from eBay and got a pallet of hanging baskets. With some media and cuttings, he started growing his own microgreens. . 

“I was a little bit late on them,” he thought. “I can put some stuff around in the yard and that’s when the farmers market came into play.“

When he first told at the Farmers Market, Rick would cut and package squares of the micro greens in plastic “clam shell” containers. He soon realized he had a problem. What he didn’t sell would go to waste. 

Rick solved the problem by taking flats of the micro greens to the market and cutting them there when the customer made their purchase. The customer got fresh micro greens and Rick no longer experienced waste of unsold product. 

There is a learning curve to growing micro greens, Rick said. He had the knowledge, but had to learn the tricks of having healthy micro greens and how to stave off disease and pests. 

He has been experimenting with dried micro greens. Rick discovered an Illionois company that does a powdered micrgoreen where a 1/4 teaspoon of micro greens is like an ounce of microgreens. 

“You definitely get the flavor of the microgreens,” he added. ‘

As one of Rick’s customers, I can attest to the great taste and freshness of his product. Rick offers both a mild and a spicy mix. 

My sister likes mild. I like the spicy. 

We use them mostly on salads and in sandwiches, but Christine Abrahamson says micro greens are great in soups, stews and smoothies. 

Can’t wait for this new season to get more micro greens and add it to my meals in other ways! 

And I look forward to the other offerings from Homegrown Gardens. 

Check out their Facebook page for more info and updates.