Pine River Micro Greens sells exactly what you would think: small, leafy vegetables grown in the Pine River Valley.
A “love for plants and growing things” led Tanya Feely to start growing microgreens commercially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her one-woman, Bayfield-based business, which is about a year old, not only sells the tiny plants at the Durango Farmers Market and delivers them directly to customers – they’ve also found their way into local grocery stores and restaurants, she said.
Pine River Micro Greens can be found for sale at Farmers Fresh Market in Ignacio and Sunnyside Farms Market, Durango Natural Foods Co-op and Natures Oasis in Durango. They are on the menu at El Moro, The Ore House and Mountain Monk Coffee at Durango Hot Springs.
Feely said she hydroponically and sustainably grows and sells about 30 kinds of microgreens.
“All the way from sunflower to shiso,” she said.
She also makes a few different salad dressings and microgreen basil oil.
Feely said microgreens are more healthful than their normal-sized counterparts.
They are “really super nutritious,” she said, “four to 40 times more nutritionally dense than regular, full-sized vegetables – really good food in a condensed form in a small area.”
With the exception of the greens sold at the farmers market, Feely grows everything to order.
“Anybody who orders, I am growing that specifically for that customer,” she said. “And it’s harvested within 24 hours of delivery.”
Chris Feely, Tanya’s husband who helps her at the farmers market, said she is “providing a locally-grown product to customers that’s healthy and fresh.”
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
