Aw, Shoots!
From a Small Farm, Tiny Greens
By Cynthia Hochswender
Photographs by Jiatong Lu
In recent years, young farmers have been coming to the Hudson River Valley and providing us with gorgeous edibles and magnificent flowers grown in our local, nutrient-rich soil. They all have different reasons for their dedication to 21st-century farming; whatever their incentives, we’re happy they’re here.
Nicole Harris is almost certainly on a different kind of mission than most of the new farmers, albeit with similar results.
Her journey began when she was growing up in the Fishkill region. Although she was strong and fit enough to play Division 1 soccer in school, she was plagued with health challenges that might briefly abate but would always return.
Harris didn’t get to be a Division 1 athlete by being a quitter. After college she landed her dream job in New York City working in fashion—then chucked it all away, and turned into a health sleuth determined to go all Sherlock Holmes on her infirmities.
Chronic Lyme disease turned out to be the culprit. Improved nutrition turned out to be the answer. And as a team player at all times, Harris decided to share what she’d learned with friends, family, and, later, with restaurant chefs, home cooks, and all lovers of delicious and nutritious microgreens.
First she earned multiple degrees in nutrition. Then she and her husband, also a Fishkill native, returned to Dutchess County, and began experimenting with growing high-nutrition foods in high-nutrition dirt.
One of the axioms of healthy eating is that your body is most nourished by foods that are grown in the place where you live. Also true: Small can be extremely mighty when it comes to good eating; and intense coloration usually signals intense nutrient value.
Think of the antioxidant punch that blueberries and raspberries provide. Then think of microgreens and the richness of their coloring. Although Harris’ farming experiment began with larger edibles (honey, eggs), she quickly found that what she really loved are microgreens.
Harris doesn’t have the luxury of a multi-acre farm but it wasn’t space constraints that led her to micro farming. Her farm is on three acres, but she mostly grows indoors, using a process called vertical indoor farming. The greens are grown on racks under artificial light until they’re robust enough for natural sunlight.
“Indoor vertical farming is a way to maximize food production,” Harris explains. “It allows us to control the environment, and protect the seedlings from high heat and humidity.”
The method worked beautifully, and Harris’ company, called Tiny Greens, began to grow. She has restaurant clients that she supplies with exquisite little pea shoots, arugula shoots, baby chervil, basil. There are jewel-colored radish sprouts and edible flowers (“Red amaranth, daikon radish, and cilantro have the most phytonutrients,” Harris confides).
Tiny Greens keeps adding new CSA and farm store partners; for now the list includes Fishkill Farms, Obercreek Farm, Millbrook Beef & Dairy and Poughkeepsie Farm Project.
Because the plants are grown indoors, some Tiny Greens are available in winter. Find out more at the Tiny Greens website.—tinygreensfarm.com