Don Murchie and Jess Murchie-Brown have been growing and selling four varieties of microgreens on their 4-hectare lifestyle block in Tai Tapu for about two months. Twice a week they harvest tiny pea, broccoli, radish, and sunflower shoots, which are then delivered to local restaurants and home buyers, many of whom have a weekly subscription.
Their farm is called Brown Acres, in honor of Murchie-Brown’s late brother Andrew Brown, who died in 2019 from diabetes. “We wanted a healthier lifestyle, and to slow down a bit,” Murchie said.
“Losing Andrew, that’s why we started looking into microgreens, and their health benefits. The farm is actually named after him.” The family returned home from sorting out Brown's superannuation in Australia just in time to get stuck in lockdown with Murchie-Brown’s mum.
“When we found this place, I was freaking out because I didn’t want to do farming,” Murchie-Brown said. “I don’t like working in the cold. I like animals, but I didn’t want to work with them, and I didn’t want to miss out on time with the kids.
“A friend was able to build our whole grow-shed out of refrigerator panels, so it’s the perfect temperature and humidity ... and it’s still technically farming.” Murchie-Brown said they did extensive research before starting their operation.
“We wanted to get it perfect before we got it on the market. we’ve got it down to a fine art.” Each of the four varieties grows at different rates with the radish taking just nine days, and the broccoli up to 14, but they need to be ready at the same time to be picked for delivery.
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