A new farm in Hyattsville, which opened earlier this year, is focusing on growing freshly harvested microgreens for delivery.
Working out of his childhood home in the neighborhood of University Hills in Hyattsville, owner Max Fetter is growing microgreens including sunflower, pea, and buckwheat shoots; radishes; kale and broccoli for sale through Leafcutter Farm.
Without adequate sunlight or outdoor space for larger vegetables, Fetter told the Hyattsville Wire he and his partner, environmental planner Emma Prindle, are growing everything on shelves using LED lights.
“We are constantly experimenting and have grown over 30 varieties of microgreens, trying out each to see what will work at our small scale,” he told the Hyattsville Wire. ” We wish we had known how ridiculously versatile, nutritious, and flavorful microgreens are … we would’ve been growing and eating them for years!”
Fetter previously worked full-time at Dicot Farm in Waldorf and ECO City Farms in Edmonston, where he learned about growing larger vegetables while studying microgreen farming online. He hopes to add herbs and larger salad greens in the near future.
The farm takes its name from the leafcutter bee, which brings small bits of leaves home to build a nest, which Fetter said seemed like a “cute representation” of their microgreen delivery service.
You can buy from Leafcutter on its online shop, which offers free delivery every Monday to homes within a three-mile radius, or at Shopkeepers boutique in D.C. You can also get migrogreens delivered throughout D.C. and other suburbs in Maryland. Containers come in two-and-a-half ounce to four ounce ranging from $6 to $12 per container.
Meanwhile, 2Fifty Texas BBQ in Riverdale Park has partnered with Leafcutter Farm to grow an edible garden in front of its barbecue eatery and New Brooklyn Farms out of Mount Rainier has also partnered with Leafcutter previously.
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