“Traditional farming, it’s just not realistic. We don’t have machinery, we don’t have that much land.
“It’s easy. It’s not a lot of investment. We just bought some trays. We did a bit of research as well.
“And we’re quite lucky in the Bay of Plenty. There [are] no other microgreen growers in this area.”
They now have a purpose-built 72sq m greenhouse with a packing shed alongside, providing room for hand-harvesting and sorting.
It is a far cry from Kali’s days selling shoes in China.
She married a Kiwi and arrived in New Zealand in 2007.
Jiang followed two years later, completing her schooling at Te Puke High.
Jiang said her mother had always had a passion for nature and growing things.
“She always wanted to have lots of garden, but being in the city is really hard,” Jiang told RNZ’s Country Life.
“We have very small apartments [in China] and it’s hard to have a garden.
“When she came to New Zealand, [it was] like a dream come true for Mum.”
Kali’s transformation from “city girl” to “farmer girl” was a bit of a “shock” for her family in China, her daughter said.
They moved into microgreens after Jiang lost her job as an indoor plant technician during the pandemic.
The working-from-home movement meant offices got rid of their indoor plants.
The pair initially wanted to set up an indoor plant-growing business but realised they had missed the moment.
Instead, they decided to nurture edible plants.
They started off growing from trays on a small trolley in a 12sq m greenhouse, selling at markets in Hamilton and Tauranga.
They thought people would only want the sprouts as a fancy garnish and were surprised at the demand.
“We have people that love them and they eat them every day, and they said, ‘Oh, can’t live without it in my sandwich.’
“I started doing more research on microgreens and we started to get really, really amazed [by] how beneficial [they] can be to your diet.”
The demand grew so much, they employed friend Kate Crossman fulltime to keep up with the constant task of sowing seeds, sprouting and watering the crop.
It is then sorted and hand-harvested before being delivered – sometimes in person – and sold directly at local farmers’ markets.
They grow five different types of microgreens, including a customer favourite, a blended pack of eight vegetables, based on a lucky number in Chinese culture.
“We love the number eight, and the more, the better!”
As for family dynamics affecting the flow in the greenhouse?
“Always fighting!” Kali laughed.
Not so, Jiang said.
“I feel like me and Mum definitely [have come] a long way from the beginning, understanding each other’s, like, strengths and weaknesses, and I guess compromising as well.
“Of course, Mum always comes on top, because [she’s] your mother!”
– RNZ
This post was originally published on here
