Certification will not be worth while with only one market, it takes a lot of time, paperwork, and some money. You should get a business license and definitely insurance. You should easily make some money, but selling to only one restaruant will likely bring in less in one month than a good nights' tips. but if chef KNOWS you're growing organic, why does he want to short you on the price? Talk to Sam Hayward or Melissa Kelly about what's fair for microgreens. Melissa's gardener grows a lot for them, but they have also bought from Sid Wainer, who charges as much as $60 / lb for some micros. Sounds like your chef could learn a thing or two about commercial growing. Microgreens are NOT a good introduction to gardening, but for an experienced grower with a good market they can be a ice supplement to a garden income. Just so you know, I was a waiter for over 30 years and a grower (simultaneously) for over 20. My advice would be to get a nursing degree...

Thanks,
I wasn't interested in turning it into a profession but a way to make some extra cash on the side of my other jobs. I have gardening experience, a really nice grow light and was thinking I could flip that into some extra cash.

I'd be happy to help guide you through the process. The first and most pertinent questions are: how much is your chef ordering now, from whom, and what does he pay? It should be easy for you to compete on price and shelf life unless he is using another local grower - if that is the case, you should at least be able to match that price. Depending on his volume, and your infrastructure, you should be able to get started with minimal investment. One grow light is likely NOT sufficient, nor would it be optimal in terms of maximizing your profitability, but will only be necessary until you can start growing outside (assuming you have that option) or have a good source of natural light in a minimally heated area. More important is warmth, for germination. You will need to create a system that allows you to produce several flats per week of each crop you hope to grow; for a restaurant serving 100 covers per night, for instance, that might mean as many as 60 flats in continuous production, with 15 (25%) being harvested and replanted each week. A standard 1020 flat measures 11 inches wide by 21.25 inches long by 2.44 inches deep measured on the outside, so you'll need about 120 square feet of growing space for that amount of production. With a series of stepped benches, some reflective insulation (foil-covered bubble wrap), and a few more lights, you can do this with about a 75 square foot space. Obviously, space to do this is important, but I have a system that I constructed that can be moved indoors in winter (I have mine in a hoop house) to create optimal growing conditions in minimal space. You will want to buy bulk seed (I strongly recommend FEDCO) of the varieties your chef hopes to use - we're talking seeds by the pound, if he's really committed to this - in order to keep your expenses manageable. You can't compete by using retail seed sources. Organic seed will cost more, and although that is what I recommend, unless your chef and market demand it, you may be better off with conventional seed until you have a good production system set up and have costs under control. Either way, you must use untreated seed. You will need growing medium, which you should also buy in bulk from FEDCO, and you will use a lot of it (1/4" minimum for each flat), and a good source of fresh, untreated water. You will need a packaging system - for starters, recycle what the chef is receiving his current product in now, being sure to sterilize them before use with a 10% bleach solution and possibly UV light. Ideally, you will want to irrigate from the bottom, which reduces the likelihood of diseases, but means increased cost because you will need trays to hold the water that your seeded flats will rest in. Once you have mastered an efficient production system, you should be able to grow 1/2 to an ounce of greens per flat, depending on variety and density of planting, and be harvesting each flat on a one to three week rotation, depending again on variety, germination and growth rates, and growing conditions. You should charge competitive prices - about $2 per ounce - which won't seem like a lot once you see how much seed you go through. You should find a secondary market - perhaps a local food co-op or independent grocer - where you can sell any excess if your chef doesn't need all that you produce... he may not object if you sell to a competitor, but if you do, offer your own chef a "friends and family" discount to keep things peaceful, or give him exclusive access to certain varieties. You should assume that your start-up costs will be in the range of several hundred to a thousand dollars, depending on the size of your operation, your ability to construct your own growing area, seed and materials, and liability insurance. You will likely recoup that within six months, and then your annual costs will be seed, growing media, packaging, and utilities. You should plan to spend as much as 10 hours per week on cultivation, harvesting, planting, packaging, and typical business bookkeeping at first, but once you have a system, and can begin to automate certain parts of it (lights and irrigation on timers, computerized record keeping, etc.), and become more efficient with practice, you will likely spend 6 hours a week on this. Hopefully this will give you a realistic idea of what is involved (obviously based on a lot of assumptions on my part) and won't discourage you from what could become a nice supplement to your income.

Thanks so much, that's a lot of really helpful information.

well I started 6 trays of mixed colored lettuce in my heated greenhouse since I had some space not tied up and I bet I don't hardly break even on what they are putting out. The trays are good and full of plants, but I don't think that's going to add up to very much in volume(weight) for market. I've got a market on Saturday indoors, we'll see. I'll try your $2.00 an ounce price and see how that goes. I didn't have any idea what to charge anyway. If I wasn't already heating the greenhouse for other plants I'm growing for spring, I'm sure this would be a hard way to make $. This time of year, with short days and low light it took almost 25 days to get them up to a good 4" tall.

Remember that these are a specialty item for chefs and caterers, most home cooks aren't interested. Typically the varieties are grown for concentrated flavor - arugula, basil, etc, and if you aren't buying your seed in large quantities - several pounds or more - it's hard to make it pay. Most of my flats are planted so that the seeds are in one solid layer, and I harvest them at about 1". They don't need much light, just warmth to germinate. Lettuce micro-greens should be ready to harvest in 10 days.

Thank you, bi11me and sandy0225, for detailed instructions for commercial growing microgreens. I have one more question. What is average rate of seeds per one tray? Let's take arugula seeds or basil for example.