About us
Our Story
The story of how Fresh Forage has roots with my previous profession of being a commercial hay farmer.
I grew up on a small acreage just outside of Brandon, Manitoba where my parents operated a haying operation that increased in size as I grew older. My teenage years were full of riding behind the baler stacking small square bales with my father on a bale wagon. It was hard work but my father instilled in me a strong work ethic and a love for farming. Over the years he added more tractors, balers, and bale pickers to his operation where I learned how to work every piece of equipment and worked in tandem with him and my mom. At the height of their operation we were baling between 20,000 and 30,000 small square bales of hay and straw per year.
After leaving the family farm, I pursued my interest in university and consulting engineering where I thrived but always longed to once again smell the fresh cut grass and the satisfaction of a neatly baled field. So I left my promising career behind to follow my heart and desire to get dirt and diesel on my hands.
I entered back into farming with a different tactic of focusing on baling large square bales instead of the small ones that my parents did. I grew my operation from one baler doing a couple hundred acres to running multiple balers and crews, shipping hay and straw across Canada and into the United States.
I enjoyed the challenges and it pushed me to learn new skills such as getting my Class 1 license with air. I was really good at being a commercial hay farmer which included reading the weather and determining the best times to cut and bale. The weather always proved to be challenging and could be the difference between having a good year and a really bad year.
I thought to myself, is there an industry that I can utilize my green thumb that is not dependent on the weather or the same market conditions that I was subjected to with haying? From those thoughts came the idea for Fresh Forage. Fresh Forage started off initially as a business for selling barley fodder for horses but quickly changed to growing micro-greens for people.
I grew the business from experiments in the washroom to my sister in-law’s basement then finally to the commercial grow space Fresh Forage now occupies. I have been blessed to expand it here at Osborne from 2 small rooms to occupying 2/3 of the basement with multiple grow rooms.
Unfortunately I am no longer able to farm hay commercially due to an accident, however I am still able to use my green thumb and grow greens indoors year round. I am blessed that the situation could have been much different and that I can still be a farmer!
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Microgreens the same as sprouts?
We get asked this question a lot – is microgreens just a fancy word for sprouts? The simple answer is no. Sprouts and Microgreens are actually very different. There are different growing processes, different nutritional benefits and at the end of the day, a completely different food experience. Here are 5 differences between Microgreens and Sprouts.
- Sprouts Are Germinated Seeds. Microgreens Are Developed. Sprouts are simply germinated seeds. Microgreens go through a different planting and growth process that allows them to boast fully developed stems and leaves, making them significantly different in composition from sprouts.
- Sprouts Are Grown In Water. Microgreens in Soil or Peat Moss. You may not know this, but sprouts are grown in water while microgreens are grown in soil or peat moss. Sprout seeds are never actually planted but go through a process of being grown in a very low light environment with high humidity levels.
- Sprouts Take Much Less Time To Grow. Microgreens Take Longer. Producing sprouts usually takes a few days due to the high-intensity growing process. Microgreens on the other hand, usually take between one and six weeks to grow the first fully developed leaves and stems that are ready to be eaten. The growing process includes high-light and climate-controlled conditions.
- Sprouts Do Not Have The Same Nutritional Value. Microgreens Are Healthy. Microgreens are eaten once the first fully developed stems and leaves appear. When you eat a sprout you are eating the seed, stems and underdeveloped leaves. This makes a significant difference to the nutritional value between a microgreen and a sprout. To learn more about microgreen health benefits visit our Health Benefits of Microgreens page.
- Microgreens and Sprouts Taste Very Different. Because microgreens are fully developed and sprouts are not, the flavours in microgreens are concentrated and the textures are delicate. Concentrated flavours allows you or your customer to enjoy a bright punch of freshness or a spicy aftertone with each bite.
Source: theherbman.ca
How long does it take for microgreens to grow?
Microgreens typically take 7-10 days to grow while some slower growing varieties can take upwards of 21 days.
Do I need to wash my greens?
I will never discourage customers from washing their greens however when we harvest our microgreens we send them through a rinse and dry to remove most foreign debris such as bits of soil, extra seed that didn’t germinate, perilite, etc. That way they are clean and at the correct moisture content to promote maximum freshness.
Do you use chemicals for your greens?
We try to remain as organic as possible using hydrogen peroxide as our main form of combating fungus, mold and bacteria.