News from Common Ground Food Co-op

Q&A with Bill Bagby
sprouts

What does your farm name mean to you? How did you choose this name? The name Tiny Greens has two meanings. First, I like the idea of "tiny," decentralized local food production. The word "green" has obvious sustainable, ecological and environmental implications. Second, it's because we really don't know what the bleep we're doing (another implication of "green")! All I really know is that somebody better do this and they better do it now. Friends, family and key employees voted to choose our name. Tiny Greens was the winner because it also clearly indicates sprouts and microgreens, our key products.

Where is your farm located? How many miles do you travel to reach Common Ground? Tiny Greens is located at 2314 High Cross Road in Urbana, which is 1.1 miles away from Common Ground.

How long have you been farming? I have been farming professionally since 1984. Before that, I was always an avid gardener with a green thumb.

What do you grow, raise, or produce on your farm? We attempt to grow peppers of all types, squashes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, kale, chard, beets, and a large variety of herbs. In our indoor facility, we grow sprouts and baby microgreens.

What is your signature product? Sprouts and baby microgreens.

Do you use organic or natural farming practices? It's all, absolutely, 100% Mother Nature's work and Certified Organic. She is a lot smarter than the latest generations of soil scientists and horticulturalists. Those traditional fields of study, as taught today, often don't reflect natural growing processes or a respect for Nature.

What do you enjoy most about farming? Watching the seeds sprout is a pretty amazing thing. Watching plants grow is a humbling experience that never ceases to fascinate me.

What do you find most challenging about farming? Finding the time to pull weeds, keeping the extensive records that are necessary for organic certification, and finding certified organic fertilizers are all quite a challenge.

What is your philosophy/perspective on farming and agriculture? I think that all agricultural land was once under water. At that time, the soil contained 92 of the elements on the periodic table. Amazingly, those 92 elements only appear together in three places on Earth today. Those three places are ocean water, human blood, and some grasses. I think that adding a concentrated solution of ocean water with reduced salt as a growing supplement for our farming practices is wise. After all, most organic fertilizers come from the ocean anyway: kelp and other seaweed extracts, fish emulsions, etc. Overall, the most important philosophy is to keep food production as local as possible with the aid of appropriate technologies.

Is there anything else you'd like Common Ground members to know about your farm? It's a shame that because of the world that we live in and its anti-environmental trends, sustainable practices and local food production cost more in order for our business itself to be sustainable and continue. My hope is that one day non-sustainable practices, such as the use of petrol fuels, electricity/energy production, and construction will slowly transition into more sustainable models. I also think that if the true cost of conventional methods of food production would include the medical and environmental clean-up expenses caused by those methods, then it would be clear that growing organically or sustainably is far cheaper.