Pint-sized plants pack a powerful punch

The Kingsport Farmers Market recently opened for the 2023 season with a healthy selection of vegetables, homemade breads, potted flowers, arts and crafts and canned goods. And as we dig deeper into the market season, the number of vendors and variety of selections will only continue to grow.

In recognition of the spring growing season, I felt it the perfect time to highlight one of the many loyal vendors who call our market home – Amy Venable of Colonial Heights.

Amy is the owner and operator of Little Mountain Microgreens – a home-based, urban farm specializing in, of course, microgreens.

But what are microgreens you ask? Don’t worry, I had to look it up myself.

Just like the name implies, microgreens are young, tiny vegetables roughly one to three inches tall and planted densely together. As a result, microgreens have larger amounts of vitamins and minerals than fully grown vegetables.

“All of the energy it takes to sprout a seed is captured in a microgreen, so it has more flavor and more nutrition than a mature vegetable,” Amy explains. “The larger a vegetable grows, the more the nutrition is diluted.”

Amy’s microgreens are grown on roughly a two-week cycle. She plants them on Monday and harvests them on the following Friday – the day before she sells them at the Kingsport Farmers Market.

Most anything that would grow into a mature vegetable can be grown into a microgreen, including onions, chives, beets, sunflowers, radishes, broccoli, cabbage and cantaloupes. These microgreens can then be used in salads, sandwiches, wraps and smoothies, or as a topping or garnish.

Amy has been growing and selling microgreens for the past five years, originally at neighboring farmers markets, but now exclusively at the Kingsport Farmers Market since 2020. Born and raised in Blountville, Amy is a nuclear chemist by trade and after graduating in 1995 she started her career at Oak Ridge.

Twenty years ago, she came back to the Tri-Cities and for 19 of those years, worked at NFS in Erwin.

“We started a flower farm in 2017 and began selling them at the Johnson City Farmers Market. Then a friend mentioned microgreens. We decided to try it and it was successful,” Amy said. “In 2018, we went with just microgreens, I was able to quit my job last year and we’ve been doing it ever since.”

Little Mountain Microgreens is a Certified Naturally Grown farm, the first to receive this honor in Sullivan County. According to their website, Amy uses organic practices in growing foods, from organic germination mix to organic and non-gmo seeds, to novel methods for eliminating pests.

In addition to microgreens, Amy also offers value added products for her customers. Items such as sunflower hummus, pea pesto, short bread cookies with edible flowers, unique jellies, tea blends and grow kits.

Everything grown (or made) by Little Mountain Microgreens is done in order to reduce food wastes, Amy says.For more information about Amy’s farm and products, visit www.littlemountainmicrogreens.org.