The Making of a Business

I'm a few months in creating this business, and it occurred to me that just like I'm sharing with my friends on Facebook, others might be interested in this journey. I've decided to write this blog to document my progress and share my experiences.

My name is Kim Cobb and for the past 21 years, I've been a Science teacher in AZ. I taught many levels, from 5th grade to adult but middle school was my favorite. It was actually some of my students who inspired me to write this blog as many of them wanted to stay updated on my progress. (Shout out to my Horizon Honors students!) Even though I've been teaching, I have a B.S. in Business Administration and always wanted to own my own business. I've done small things in the past like selling jewelry on Etsy and I

have a small TPT store. (Which I hope to continue to grow.) When I learned about microgreens, I thought it was something I really might be able to do. The start up cost are relativily low compared to other businesses and I could grow and work from home. I did hours and hours of research on microgreen businesses. I've watched countless hours on Youtube and listening to podcasts and I decided to give growing a try. I bought a small amount of seeds in a few varieties (radish, mild salad mix, spicy salad mix, and broccoli). I bought 20 shallow 10 x 20 trays from

Bootstrap Farmer, 10 with holes, 10 without. I bought 1 small brick of coco coir (amazing growing material made

of ground coconut husks). I had a metal rack that worked perfect. I strapped a couple of 20 watt shop lights to each shelf and capped it off with a CPU fan for airflow. I set it up in my living room and away I went growing trays.

I, in no way have what you would call a green thumb. In fact, among my family and friends I'm known as the plant killer. So after a few days of growing when I dumped a tray, and had to throw out 2 others due to mold, I wasn't really surprised, but I was determined to keep growing and get it right. My 3rd tray was pretty good. It was a little over-watered but I got a decent yield from it and it tasted so fresh and crisp!

I was inspired to keep going so I got more seeds (sunflowers, green peas, red kale, red cabbage, and more radishes).

By this point I was really getting the hang of it. To get a great yield, you have to figure out the best sowing rate and water for the crops, and I started to figure it all out. I could do this! I could start a microgreens business and make it profitable, so I thought.

In March I got my LLC and licensing set up. Before I could start growing large scale, though I would need to create a temperature controlled grow room in my garage. I currently have a 3 car garage. To cool that in the AZ summer would cost a fortune so I would need to build a wall. That would be a huge project, so I waited to begin until school was out.