Desert climate doesn’t stop local farm from growing, selling quality greens

Describe your business.

We are a local farm that sells products within 24 hours of cutting them, and we deliver our microgreens to Las Vegas each week.

We welcome and encourage chefs to visit so they can see our products and how we take care of them.

What do you grow?

We specialize in microgreens but also grow fruits and vegetables. Our special house blend of microgreens is called Mystical Mix, which enhances the taste buds. It’s one of our most popular products. All of the chefs whom we sell to ask for it.

We also work with chefs to create special blends that only their restaurants will serve.

How have you acclimated your garden to the desert?

We have a high-quality cooling system in our greenhouse to keep our microgreens fresh and healthy. During winter months, we use a heating system to help them grow consistent with the temperature and climate they are used to.

What makes your business unique?

We truly are a mom-and-pop business. Everything we do is hands-on, including growing, watering, cutting, labeling, packing and delivering. We like to deliver our products freshly cut, because we sell to high-end restaurants that enjoy how the microgreens enhance the presentation of their dishes.

What’s the most important part of your job?

There is no one job more important than the other. Each job component has to work hand-in-hand for the business to work successfully. Doug worked in the greenhouse for a year before we started selling to restaurants.

What is the hardest part about doing business in Las Vegas?

Trying to get my foot in the door, meeting chefs and getting them to try our samples. It has been challenging encouraging restaurants to purchase products grown locally instead of reaching out to other states. Buying products that are locally-grown not only shows in the freshness and quality but shows the chefs are supporting local businesses.

What obstacles has your business overcome?

Learning how to grow microgreens with extreme temperature changes that vary from 20 degrees to 120 degrees year-round. Also, always trying to keep ahead of the curve to ensure we have enough product but then struggling with a chef canceling part of their order or all of their order due to a slow week at the restaurant.

What have you learned from the recession?

Never give up. Part of having a business is watching it successfully grow while you face hard times. Our business has become successful through the small steps we have made. Slow and steady has been our philosophy, and that is why we grow a quality product and why our customers keep coming back.