Specialties
Piedmont Microgreens is an urban farm located in Durham, NC. Our goal is to provide beautiful, fresh, and delicious greens without the impact, complexity, or uncertainty of the traditional food system. Conventional produce is judged based on how many days after harvest it takes to reach your plate and how many miles it has to travel to get there. We prefer to use hours and meters instead.
Microgreens are the young seedlings of the same vegetables you find at the grocery store. Not to be confused with sprouts, microgreens take between one and four weeks to grow. Plants progress from a seed to a microgreen, then 'baby' greens, and, eventually, a mature vegetable. Microgreens are beautiful, tasty, and packed with those beneficial nutrients that we often look for in ‘dark leafy greens.’ Many varieties contain a greater density of healthy compounds than their adult versions. “In general, microgreens contain considerably higher concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids than their mature plant counterparts.” What makes microgreens so powerful, though, is their ease of use. Our microgreens don’t need to be washed, prepared, or cooked before consuming. In a rush? Put our microgreens straight from the container to your plate. Not sure how to use them? Eggs, sandwiches, soups, salads, smoothies, and any other dish. Put our microgreens on or in just about anything. Actually, don't put the Spicy Salad Mix in a smoothie, that's kind of weird...
History
Established in 2020.
I spent the first year of PMG growing microgreens in the living room of a rented apartment. After nine months of growing in the apartment, I bought my first home, which included a 400 square foot detached garage. The garage was our first expansion. PMG went from growing 25 trays per week for ten local restaurants to growing 250 trays per week for 60 local restaurants and the Durham Farmer’s Market (DFM). After two years in the garage, one competitor acquisition, hiring five employees, and firing two, we recently closed on the purchase of a 2,000 square foot commercial space. We have since completed the renovations and relocated the farm. This was our second expansion. The team completed two major milestones since moving into the new space in April 2024. The first milestone was getting HGAP certified. The second milestone was working with a brand strategist to further refine our packaging and branding for broader appeal in the retail sector.
Meet the Business Owner: Garrett C.
Hi! I started Piedmont Microgreens five years ago in the living room of my rented apartment. I had a strong desire to grow food for my community, but I was a full-time student without money or land. Microgreens were easy to grow. They opened the door to my farming journey. I've since fallen in love with microgreens and indoor farming.