Microgreens are incredibly healthy edible greens that are also unbelievably easy to grow with a little training. My returning guest this week, Jonah Krochmalnek, the owner and founder of Microgreens Consulting, explains what turned him on to microgreens and how he scaled from a few racks in his parents’ spare room to a thriving business.
Jonah founded Living Earth Farm in Toronto, one of the largest microgreen farms in Canada, specializing in nutrient-packed microgreens and bay greens. After close to a decade of doubling production nearly every year, Jonah sold the business so he could focus on offering microgreens education and consulting. He has helped thousands of people worldwide to start microgreens businesses.
Jonah Krochmalnek, the owner and founder of Microgreens Consulting.
Photo Courtesy of Jonah Krochmalnek
On Wednesday, March 4th, at 3 p.m. Eastern, Jonah will join me to present the free webinar “Start a Profitable Microgreens Business at Home in 30 Days or Less.” Jonah will explain how to grow microgreens not just for people interested in selling microgreens but for anyone who would like to grow greens to enjoy themselves. Then he’ll take attendees through the steps to run a microgreen business from your home, and everyone who sits in for the live webinar will receive a complimentary copy of Jonah’s 30-day game plan.
Jonah was in Tasmania, Australia, when we connected for this conversation.
“ I’ve been traveling the world and visiting farms,” he explains. “I’m about to visit a farm tomorrow here in Tasmania that is a microgreens farm that went from zero to $100,000 in revenue in 11 months.”
Meet Jonah Krochmalnek
Jonah has loved gardening since he was a teenager but didn’t think he could make any money from it. He went to business school and found the field interesting, but that was during the financial crisis and he saw how quickly wealth can be created and destroyed. He did get a 9-to-5 corporate job out of college, but he quickly realized that it was not the life for him.
Jonah volunteered at a farm in Toronto and was blown away by the fact that people were growing food outdoors. He found it very inspiring. And then in the winter, the farm grew microgreens in a greenhouse.
When he tried his hand at farming for a season and a half, he only earned $5,000 at a farmer’s market. He questioned how one can start a farm in this day and age and become a food producer without having a ton of capital.
”That’s what led me to microgreens, because anyone can do it in their house,” he says.
He started out with one rack in a spare bedroom in his parents’ house. The first winter, he sold $40,000 worth of microgreens as a 22-year-old.
“You don’t need much space,” he says. “So it really was well suited to the position I was in at the time.”
He grew the business into one of the largest of its kind in Canada, and he eventually sold it. It is still in operation today.
Jonah started growing microgreens in a spare room in his parents’ house and scaled up to a thriving business that he sold before turning his focus to education and consulting full-time.
Photo Courtesy of Jonah Krochmalnek
Microgreens Benefits
Jonah says sprouts — like alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts and beans sprouts — are like the infant stage of vegetables, and baby greens are like the teenage stage.
And then you have microgreens, which he considers the toddler stage. You know toddlers: They are full of energy and run around all day nonstop.
“It’s been proven that microgreens have significantly higher nutrition levels than sprouts and baby greens,” Jonah says.
He points out that almost everyone eats some sort of baby green these days, such as baby lettuce, baby spinach or baby arugula.
“Microgreens are starting to take up some of that space, and you might see it in grocery stores, even places like Whole Foods now, because they’re so much more nutritious, and honestly, they taste a lot better,” he says.
Photo Courtesy of Jonah Krochmalnek
The Way Your Grow Microgreens Makes a Difference
Jonah did a nutrient analysis comparing Living Earth Farm microgreens to other organic microgreens grown in the more traditional way. Living Earth Farm microgreens had nutrition levels that were much higher. Protein was 40% higher and iron was 200% higher. Every other nutrient tested was somewhere between 40% and 200% higher.
“When you grow in your own garden and you add good fertilizer, you’re going to get higher nutrient levels than most of the stuff you’re going to get at the grocery store.”
The nutrient density in microgreens is four to 40 times higher than in mature vegetables — especially the density of phytonutrients that fight cancer. For instance, broccoli microgreens became a hit because of their sulforaphane density.
“ If someone’s looking to grow my greens just for consumption, I always recommend: grow the rainbow,” Jonah says. “Don’t just grow one variety. Grow a lot of them.”
Growing a wide variety of microgreens for personable consumption yields the greatest nutritional benefits.
Photo Credit: Amy Prentice
The more variety of fruits and vegetables you consume, the better the range of nutrients.
Jonah uses what he calls his Super Soil recipe — a soil mix he finds is especially successful for growing both leafy vegetables and fruiting vegetables.
It’s easy to grow microgreens, but challenging to grow high-quality microgreens, Jonah says.
“You could just throw some seeds down, they’re gonna grow right? But are you going to run into disease issues? Is the size of the greens going to be sufficient?”
He calls bad microgreen — long stems, small leaves — soup noodles, because the texture and the taste is more like noodles than healthy greens.
Photo Courtesy of Jonah Krochmalnek
Microgreens Mistakes
Jonah says one mistake he often sees novice microgreens growers make is trying to save money on the equipment and, as a result, not having what they really need. And it’s not all that expensive to buy, for instance, proper grow lights rather than shop lights, he says. The difference is about $3 a fixture.
“It’s actually crazy how inexpensive grow lights have become,” he adds.
The second mistake is buying inferior seeds.
“If you buy a lower quality seed and grow it, you might have a subpar quality product and not even know,” he says.
Jonah trusts Johnny’s Selected Seeds and High Mowing Organic Seeds for his microgreens seeds.
The Importance of Passion
“ The reason I think my farm did so well was because of the passion I have,” Jonah says.
He has a real enthusiasm for the microgreens business.
”You’re feeding people one of the most nutritious foods on planet earth,” he points out. “It excites people that come and want to work at the farm.”
Being able to turn something he is passionate about into a living is one of the best things that’s ever happened in his life, he says.
“I was very introverted. It got me out of my shell because I needed to figure out, how can I share this with people?” he recalls.
“Every failure or challenge is a seed of opportunity for some greater benefit, and when you really fully embody that mindset, running a business is not that hard.”
Jonah’s journey reminds me of my own. When I worked as an accountant and financial planner, I dreaded Sunday nights because I didn’t want Monday morning to come.
If you can do something that serves you, feeds your soul and inspires you, there’s no substitute for that, whatever that endeavor is.
“It doesn’t feel like work,” Jonah says. “That’s the beautiful thing about running a business that you’re truly passionate about.”
There are still some basic things that must be done, like accounting, but most of the time, the day-to-day, is growing microgreens.
“ If you wake up and you’re excited to go check your microgreens trays, that’s a pretty good sign that you’re going down the right path,” he says.
“ If you wake up and you’re excited to go check your microgreen trays, that’s a pretty good sign that you’re going down the right path,” Jonah says. Photo Credit: Amy Prentice
When I worked in business, my mentor taught me the rule of the “dirty 30.” In any job, 30% of it is something you don’t want to do. But you have to do that 30% so you can do the other 70% that you enjoy.
Jonah says that farming in general is very labor intensive, but microgreen growing is only 10% as labor intensive — with no weeding or back-breaking work. But he has found that washing trays is something that people really don’t like.
At the beginning of getting into the microgreen business, Jonah, who was introverted, didn’t enjoy the sales part of selling microgreens. Though eventually he learned to be more comfortable making a sales pitch.
“ At the end of the day, when you have a good quality product that people already want to buy, you don’t have to be a salesperson,” he says.
When you are passionate about what you do for a living, it won’t feel like work.
Photo Courtesy of Jonah Krochmalnek
If you haven’t listened yet to my conversation with Jonah Krochmalnek on turning a passion for microgreens into a business, you can do so now by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking the Play icon in the green bar under the page title.
What’s your experience with microgreens been like? Let us know in the comments below.
Links & Resources
Some product links in this guide are affiliate links. See full disclosure below.
Episode 342: An Introduction to Growing Microgreens
joegardener Online Gardening Academy™: Popular courses on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, diseases & weeds; seed starting and more.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Organic Vegetable Gardening: My new premium online course. The course is designed to be a comprehensive guide to starting, growing, nurturing and harvesting your favorite vegetables, no matter what you love to eat, no matter where you live, no matter your level of gardening experience.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Seed Starting: Everything you need to know to start your own plants from seed — indoors and out.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Beginning Gardener Fundamentals: Essential principles to know to create a thriving garden.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Growing Epic Tomatoes: Learn how to grow epic tomatoes with Joe Lamp’l and Craig LeHoullier.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Pests, Diseases & Weeds: Learn the proactive steps to take to manage pests, diseases and weeds for a more successful garden with a lot less frustration. Just $47 for lifetime access!
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Perfect Soil Recipe Master Class: Learn how to create the perfect soil environment for thriving plants.
Free Webinar March 4, 2026: Start a Profitable Microgreens Business at Home in 30 Days or Less
Microgreen Consulting on YouTube
Microgreen Consulting on Instagram: @microgreensconsulting
Microgreens Mastery: Your Expert Growing Guide
“Microgreens Mastery” podcast on Spotify
“Microgreens Mastery” podcast on Apple Podcast
Soil3 – Our podcast episode sponsor and Brand Partner of joegardener.com
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I receive a commission every time you purchase a product through an Amazon affiliate link. Some product links in this guide are affiliate links. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us, and compensation is not an influencing factor on their inclusion here. The selection of all items featured in this post and podcast was based solely on merit and in no way influenced by any affiliate or financial incentive, or contractual relationship. At the time of this writing, Joe Lamp’l has professional relationships with the following companies who may have products included in this post and podcast: Milorganite, Soil3, Territorial Seed Company, Cool Springs Press / Quarto Group and Dramm. These companies are either Brand Partners of joegardener.com and/or advertise on our website. However, we receive no additional compensation from the sales or promotion of their product through this guide. The inclusion of any products mentioned within this post is entirely independent and exclusive of any relationship.
