The high nutritional value of microgreens has come to the fore once again. Kathy Tonelli, who has loved growing things since childhood, became interested back in 2013. Eventually, as she wound down a special-ed teaching career, she expanded her microgreens production, and in September 2022 she made her first sale as Meadowland Greens.

As Tonelli did research on the nutrients in different veggies and their seedlings (microgreens), she also considered their growth cycles, so that she would be able to harvest several kinds at the same time. Her “steady six” have been kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, radish, arugula and chia—the latter for high protein, the others for the healthy properties of the cruciferous family. She has since added pea and sunflower shoots, cilantro, clover (for balancing hormones), carrots, beets, red cabbage and, seasonally, cantaloupe shoots (great in smoothies).

She grows them in organic coconut coir (from coconut palm husks); gives them a blackout period of four days with bricks weighting them like soil; sets them under grow lights for 12-hour cycles; and waters from underneath until harvest at 10–12 days. Ordered online (cut with a ceramic knife) and delivered in reusable glass jars or pouches in the South County area (by Tonelli), Meadowland Microgreens can also be found on the menu at Press in Wickford and at the South County Farmers Market year-round.

401.263.5747; MeadowlandGreens.com