Rock Soup Microgreens

Home
Canada
Edmonton, AB
Rock Soup Microgreens

We grow microgreens for wholesale & other food banks we are part of Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank Rock Soup is currently a wholly volunteer run organization!

This program grows microgreens using organic principles and then markets and sells them directly to the consumer. All income generated goes directly to pay infrastructure costs, associated with Rock Soup’s charitable operations, specifically, rent and utility payments, which are generally NOT covered by any government grants or programs. Our mission is to provide food sovereignty, in a sustainable

manner, which is inclusive to all individuals. We strive to make Macro Change by producing Micro Greens

Our microgreens goals are:
• Harvest to consumer in about a day
• Organic principles for growing
• No GMO components
• no herbicides used
• no pesticides used
• no fertilizers used

We use vertical high density farming principles and many of our microgreens currently use an environmental growing medium of h**p or coconut mats instead of soil. Our retail product is packaged in plant based, compostable clam shells or bags, and our commercial product in compostable or reusable containers or bags. Commercial clients can arrange for weekly deliveries of product. Our long term hope is to grow this program significantly so that Rock Soup may one day become self-sufficient and no longer have to rely on government grants or assistance from other organizations. Your generous help in starting this ball rolling would be greatly appreciated, and will help out a lot of people in the long term. As the program grows and expands, it will also begin to employ a multi-cultural workforce to help with the production and distribution of the microgreens. Harvest to consumer in a day – One of our main goals is to have our product in the hands of the consumer in about a day. We can accomplish this because we are a local producer, that does the harvesting and packaging ourselves. We also provide direct to consumer deliveries, with generally no middle men or distributors. Remember that most produce on the market these days is imported and spends the first week of their post-harvest life in transport carriers of some sort. They may be delayed at the borders for a few days, and then spend a few more days in a wholesalers warehouse before they get delivered to a distributor or retail seller. That results in only a couple of days of shelf life remaining for the product! By getting our product to the consumer directly within a day, means that it now has a significant shelf life remaining before it spoils. Organic principles used for growing – Although we are not a certified organic producer, we follow all the principles and guidelines used by organic producers. Remember we are a volunteer run non-profit charity, and cannot generally afford the time, labor, and expense to become organic certified! Vertical farming – We use high density vertical farming principles, with 5 growing levels on each rack, which means our footprint is only one fifth that of a normal growing facility. Our growing facility is completely enclosed and not exposed to the outdoor environment. This means more efficient heating, cooling, and air circulation of the growing area. No GMO components – All our seed products used in growing our microgreens come from organically certified producers and do not contain any GMO products. All seeds are organic certified. No herbicides used – We have no need to use herbicides of any sort. As already mentioned our seed stock is certified organic, and is free from w**d contamination. The soil or growth mediums we use are also sterile or free from w**d contamination. Since our grow racks are located in a climate controlled area, and not exposed to the outdoor environment there is no contamination from nature. No pesticides used – Again, since our grow racks are located in a climate controlled area, and not exposed to the outdoor environment there is no contamination from nature, hence no pest infestations and no need for pesticides. No fertilizers used – Because our microgreens are usually harvested within the first 2 weeks after germination, there is no need for any nutrients to be added to the growth medium, only normal watering, and lighting. All the plant’s complex nutrients are generated during this time and are then just distributed to the growing plant. As such the microgreens are up to 40 times more concentrated in micronutrients than the mature plants.

06/04/2024

A big thank you to Randy Simpson and Simpson & Associates LLP for their incredibly speedy legal work.

THEY GO ABOVE AND BEYOND

12/17/2023

Last chance to make charitable donations to get your 50% refund on 2023 taxes. Get more back of you know what you are doing. Ask me.

11/23/2023

Happy turkey day.

10/18/2023

If you could donate money to a local CHARITY and get the full amount back as a TAX refund, would you do it?

There are ways to do it that are complient with CRA rules.

10/18/2023

If you could donate money to a local CHARITY and get the full amount back as a TAX refund, would you do it?

There are ways to do it that are completely comment with CRA rules.

10/10/2023

Translation: Happy Thanks giving.

10/10/2023

Thanks Giving potatoe harvest. A total of only 7 oz. The tomatoes really killed them off. I forgot to pick some up at The Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank on my last trip there. Rumor has it they have an abundance of potatoes to share.

09/09/2023

Glad to see another farm doing this

DON'T FORGET
FOOD BANK THURSDAYS!
Sidney Microgreens will be donating to the Sidney Food Bank every Thursday this winter!
If you can give this winter please do and support your local food bank!

08/29/2023

I guess it is the day for deals! Another great score for some mint chocolate.

08/29/2023

Scored big today! Over $40 of 7-11 road food and snacks for only $3.99 using the special app. Every bag is a new suprise!!!

08/26/2023

Listing realtor still needed. A month now and still looking for a realtor. Doesn't anyone want the work?

Small condo about 450sqft located at 12837-66 st. Edmonton, City assessment $78k. Main floor with private entrance and address. Can be used as either Commercial or residential. Unit will need renovations to suit use, allready stripped down to walls.

Proceeds going to charity. Need a creative realtor willing to think and work outside the box. If all you are going to do is list and sit, do not bother replying. I have been burned and gone through this more than once! If you are creative and willing to work, you could net more than a normal commission when all is said and done.

Apparently all my facebook friend realtors just want to list and sit.

08/23/2023

It is Soup time! Start with 10 lbs of fresh tomatoes, dice and blend, add some fresh spices made from microgreens (peas, yellow mustard, etc.), add a few other vegetables, then boil for a while.

That's my lunch for the next week.

08/18/2023

Small tomato harvest, a 3 pounder, a 2 pounder, and a one pounder! "And the rest".

08/13/2023

I have taken a lot of heat saying you can make lots of money selling at $1.25 per oz, and many people wanted to see the numbers. So here you are, our model based on some actual operating numbers. Well actually higher than our numbers since we used the online retail pricing for seeds based on 1kg pricing, and not the bulk pricing we get. And higher electric costs than just the consumption rate.

There is actually not much difference for cost based on seed variety and is about $0.50 per oz, and when you add in lease costs, still looking at about only $0.75 per oz. The more production you have per month the cheaper this expense gets.

So if wholesale selling at $1.25 per oz you are still making about $0.50 per oz.

QED

08/12/2023

First tomatoes of the year. 847gm worth. These are the baby ones. Can hardly wait for the giant 5lb ones to turn red. And yes they will be that big, some are already the size of softballs!

08/09/2023

Listing realtor needed.

Small condo about 450sqft located at 12837-66 st. City assessment $78k. Main floor with private entrance and address. Can be used as either Commercial or residential. Unit will need renovations to suit use, allready stripped down to walls.

Proceeds going to charity. Need a creative realtor willing to think and work outside the box. If all you are going to do is list and sit, do not bother replying. I have beenburned and gone through this more than once! If you are creative and willing to work, you could net more than a normal commission when all is said and done.

Apparently all my friendly realtors just want to list and sit.

08/08/2023

This is a follow-up to the original post. The Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank is a fully volunteer run non-profit charity. We run a significant microgreens program, and up until now all greens have been used in our food bank or donated to other local food banks. Recently charitable donations have dried up significantly and we do not even have the funds to order seeds. Over the past weeks we have taken a lot of heat over asking for charitable donations, in various microgreen groups, so we can purchase more seeds. So much so, that we actually deleted all our posts in the various groups. Many people suggested that we just sell product.

Here is the problem, since we are a non-profit charity, we are not able to sell retail to the public, otherwise we would be considered a for-profit organization and loose our charitable status. So that means no retail customers, no subscription programs, and no farmers markets. However, we can offer benefits to significant donors, such as giving them an amount of microgreens based on the size of their donation. The economics for us are significantly different than for most for-profit farmers. For every donation of $1.25 we are able to grow approximately 4 oz of microgreens. One for the donor, One for our own food bank, and then 2 to donate to other food banks. That is why we are considering starting a wholesale operation.

We normally run about 5 racks but are down to one, due to the lack of donations. We have the ability to expand up to 20 racks on 3 weeks’ notice (If we were to get the appropriate donations). The political parties in power where we operate, mean we do not get any funding or help from the governments, and are solely dependent of private donations we solicit for ourselves. We understand that many people are not in a position to donate, so all we ask is that you spread the word about our situation and hopefully that may reach some potential donors. We do have the ability to issue official government approved charitable donation receipts for any monetary donations.

If anyone would like to help us and be a seed sponsor, we can arrange for you to pay our seed supplier directly, so you know the donation is actually going for seeds. However, the pricing would be at the supplier’s retail pricing, and honestly we would get a much better deal when we purchase the seeds directly. Our supplier is great and offers us commercial bulk pricing plus an added discount on top because we are a non-profit charity. We also need donations to help with the utility payments as we are constantly being threatened by the providers to have them cut off.

Please check us out at:

Every Dollar Donated does 4 dollars of GOOD

08/07/2023

We all know that profitable farming is about being efficient, managing your time, and keeping costs low. So I have a question for all the serious farmers who have a large number of repeat customers and are pushing out a significant amount of microgreens. Not the 1 to 5 rackers.

You know how much time it takes to, prepare trays with soil, seed trays, germinate, move trays around on racks, water trays repeatedly, then harvest, dispose of root beds, and finally wash and sanitize the trays so they are ready for the next round. And using a decent hourly wage, whether you do it yourself or have staff, it adds up to a significant amount each cycle.

Now think of your hard costs, like seeds, soil, utilities, waste disposal, etc. That also adds up.

All that cost and time just to get your greens ready to package and then deliver. What if you could eliminate all that time and expense?

Since you already have the customers what would you consider a fair price to just buy the harvested greens from another local farm, and then just package and deliver yourself if you are selling at a retail price of $2.50 per oz????

For all the people who do not understand, the question is: if you are selling your product at $2.50 per oz, what would you pay to not have to grow them?

Think of the time and expenses you would be saving, and just capitalizing on the profitable part, the sale.

08/03/2023

This week's microgreens donation to another local food bank is significantly smaller than previous weeks.

We are dramatically rationing our seed supply and only have a few weeks before it is exhausted, unless we get some donations quickly! Please help!

A total of:
58 packages, 6 oz each for total of
348 oz of freshly harvested microgreens.

78 oz of Sunflower,
138 oz of Broccoli
132 oz of Speckled Peas

Grown by Rock Soup Microgreens a division of The Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank and donated in the name of one of our microgreen program sponsors.

This donation just got them a $870 tax deductible donation receipt.

We have other food banks that want us to donate to them, but We need to cut back and ration our seeds until we can get more donors so we can afford a seed order.

Every dollar donated to our microgreens program, does $4 of good.

1) The first dollar goes directly to Rock Soup, which uses it to offset the costs of growing food. And of course you get a charitable donation receipt for any amount donated.

2) The second and third dollar is from food grown by Rock Soup, and donated to another local charity food bank.

3) The fourth dollar comes from the government in the future, by way of a matching grant based on the initial donation.

Please consider making a charitable donation so we can continue providing fresh produce to people in need.

Even if you cannot afford to donate, please help spread the word by sharing this post.

Please DM me directly to find out more information about being a Microgreens program supporter or sponsor. Divert you tax dollars to a worthy charity rather than the greedy government! Let us show you how.

08/02/2023

03/18/2023

Hey Soupers!!
Every week our shipment from HelloFresh comes in. The shipping costs us roughly $400 per shipment. Monthly it costs us, roughly $2000.00/mth.
If you're able to donate here are some links to use;
https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-rock-soup-greenhouse-and-food-bank

e-transfer; [email protected]

We need your help. If you could share this post, help spread the word that would be great!
If you or know someone who would like to help us out with these costs, please send us a message,and we can provide more information:)
Thank you all again,
Becky

09/17/2022

08/06/2022

Some of the other good things we are growing along with our microgreens.

Address

2020-28 Avenue, SW
Edmonton, AB
T6X1A5

Website

http://www.RockSoup.ca/, http://www.RockSoup.ca/microgreens, http://www.rocksoupmicrogreens.ca/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Rock Soup Microgreens posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.