Micro Greens to Market: Growing, Community, and Christmas Cheer!
It’s was the (last) night (of weekend shopping) before Christmas.
Desperately looking for some final gifts for my foodie and green-fingered friends, I’d rather be anywhere else than in this stressful shopping centre. Picturing a glade or somewhere green and tranquil to keep me from stressing out, I spy in the distance amongst the cheese and candle stalls, with strong perfumes wafting from the shops - Eledel MG - Microgreens stall and met founder and owner Imola Andras- and also found the perfect present.
I sampled some sunflower micro greens, nutty, crunchy, sweet, and refreshing. Imola, explains sunflower micro greens pair well with dishes like cheese boards, leftover roast salads, and mac and cheese.
In case you’re looking for inspiration, Imola offers grow kits as Christmas presents, or a way to kickstart a healthy new year habit, containing seeds, a reusable glass spray bottle, and growing mediums.
After purchasing some sunflower micro greens for tea and a grow kit, I thought it would be great to ask to visit Imola’s growing space, to which she kindly obliged!
Meeting Imola Andras, an ingenious gardener, with a micro greens business despite limited growing space.
Imola operates her micro greens business from a single garage at home, with an insulated setup, using grow lights, racks, and a dehumidifier to control conditions.
As well as selling at markets, Imola also delivers Microgreens, locally! After identifying various micro green types (broccoli, radish, pea shoots, sunflower), Imola explains their growth stages and uses and shares some advice for small-scale growers:
- Start small with minimal investment.
- Use recycled materials for growing (e.g., supermarket trays).
- As the business grows, expand incrementally with modular racks.
Imola uses affordable grow lights and prefers certain light types for aesthetic outcomes in specific plants.
Background and Gardening Philosophy
Imola’s interest in microgreens began as a response to her mother’s health challenges, finding microgreens as a nutrient-dense solution and explained the meaning of business name, “Eledel,” which is Hungarian for "nourishing food" which holds cultural and magical significance for Imola.
Imola transitioned from hospitality to gardening and launched the micro greens business after two and a half years of preparation. She also teaches gardening to children and parents, incorporating science, math, and mindfulness into the lessons.
Imola’s Practical Gardening Advice
Imola advises families and small-space gardeners to:
Start with easy, small projects using recycled materials.
For those with growing business models, Imola recommends sturdy and fit for multiple use growing trays from https://www.garlandproducts.com/shop/microgreens-growing-tray-with-holes.html that are fairly new on the market. Imola feels these are well made and built to last longer.
Raised beds and compact gardens can yield substantial produce, even with limited space.
Learn through trial and error, which builds confidence.
Use YouTube as a resource. (watch the full interview here ; ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHuTc_J29do&ab_channel=LendandTend
With the Lend and Tend garden-sharing initiative, connecting people with unused gardens, you could also meet passionate gardeners like Imola, who could help Tend your garden! If you have a garden big enough, Imola’s dream is to expand her growing space for regenerative farming and permaculture experiments.
So, as a new year’s resolution, if you have a garden that you don’t use or can’t manage, why not sign up to share your garden space and imagine how you could benefit from garden sharing.
For now, I would love to wish our Lend and Tend followers a very Green and Merry Christmas and please watch this space as we have some exciting news to share in the New Year.
If you want to share a garden, either Lending your own or Tending to someone else’s please sign up, free on LendandTend.com
Imola’s microgreens are available at local farmers markets in Kent, follow @EledelMG for news and local delivery options!