About us
Our Story
The Beginning
During a health and lifestyle challenge, we delved into the world of nutrition and the foods we consume daily. We quickly realized that much of the food available in grocery stores travels long distances—often across the country or even overseas—before it reaches our plates. This journey means that by the time fresh produce arrives, it has often lost 30-50% of its nutritional value, not to mention the questionable practices involved in its growth and transportation.
The Search
Motivated to find healthier, local alternatives, we embarked on a YouTube search to explore better food options. Living in Chicago, we soon discovered that year-round farmers' markets were not a feasible option for fresh produce. We were surprised to learn that many local market vendors supplemented their offerings with produce purchased from distributors when their own crops fell short. Faced with this reality, could we grow my own food?
The Action
This curiosity led us to a video about an indoor farm in Canada specializing in microgreens, shoots, herbs, and edible flowers. We learned that microgreens are some of the most nutritionally dense foods available. A month later, we boarded a plane to Canada for a weeklong, hands-on consultation at that very indoor vertical farm.
The Success
Fast forward five years, and we are proud to be the founders of Urban Micro Gardens, located just 30 miles west of Chicago in Batavia, IL. What began as a passion project aimed at providing fresh, healthy produce quickly evolved into a thriving operation supplying local restaurants, driven by a significant demand for our products.
The Next Step
Now, five years later, we are reconnecting with the original passion that sparked our journey: a desire to share these incredible tiny plants with everyone, everywhere. To achieve this while ensuring we deliver the full nutritional value of our microgreens, we developed **1st Leaf**, a daily microgreen functional whole food supplement.
