Since launching in 1992 , the New Jersey - basedBlue Moon Acresfarm has cultivated a reputation as a premium producer of microgreens and , more late , rice .
go by possessor Jim and Kathy Lyons , it turns out that a bothersome parasite was partly behind the decision to find the venture .
“ I had a moment when I went out west and contracted a parasite of some sort and my digestion got screwed up , ” say Jim Lyons . “ I do n’t cogitate it was ever properly diagnosed , so as a result of that I change my dieting . ”
Lyons was studying macrobiotics in Boston at the time . “ One of the big tenet of macrobiotics was always eat up topically , ” he explain . “ It was also industrial plant based . So I just became fascinated with the idea of growing my own food . ”
We spoke to Lyons about breaking through with microgreens and battling weed . We also got into chef who manage to make plates of food count like nontextual matter .
Discovering Microgreens
A billet portion out by Blue Moon Acres Farm ( @bluemoonacres )
When Lyons looks back on the decisiveness to make microgreens a central part of Blue Moon Acres , he recalls being revolutionise by a nearby farmer who was acquire the tiny garden truck .
“ We were very bottom line oriented at that full stop , ” he says . “ How can you farm and maturate hooey and make a living at it ? We had five acres and were try out to make a go of it as a CSA , and it was clear that financially that was n’t live to work out . So we went in the direction of microgreens . ”
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Starting Small & Growing
After grow an other crop of microgreens , Lyons cry up his cousin who was managing the New York Yacht Club and asked if he could approach their chef .
“ He gave us a few names , and I commence do sales calls , ” he recall . “ We had literally a 10 by 48 - invertebrate foot greenhouse . We started small and worked from there . ”
Spotlighting Micro Watercress
Out of this class ’s bounty of microgreens , Lyons says that he and his married woman Kathy are middling smitten with the micro watercress .
“ We were just calculate at the micro watercress and admiring how beautiful it is , ” he read . “ It ’s really quite amazing . It ’s so tiny , but it ’s such a utterly formed folio . ”
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A Pretty Pricey Salad
At first , Lyons says that he noticed chef using Blue Moon Acres ’ microgreens “ primarily to beautify plate up at the very ok restaurants in New York City . ” He adds with a laugh that , “ Some were using it as an entire salad — which was a pretty pricey salad ! ”
promote the idea of using microgreens as “ a beautiful garnish , ” Lyons explain how “ we do n’t always just feed with our mouth — we also eat with our eyes . That ’s what some chefs are doing , making a plateful that look like artwork . ”
Growing Rice in New Jersey
In 2014 , Lyons managed to extract off the surprising effort of growing rice in New Jersey — although he had to surmount an early reverse .
“ The first twelvemonth was weed ! ” he aver . “ My first class was a accomplished disaster . I thought I could stay on top of the weeds , but I was sadly false . You had to get the weeds under control .
“ This year I ’m sort of have a problem with weeds again . It ’s not like microgreens where you could get another batch going every few weeks . With Timothy Miles Bindon Rice , you really have just one year . ”
