Shelf Life of our Produce Grown with Plasma

It is three years since we did our first shelf life experiment using plasma on our farm. We have gotten so used to the quality of our products that it sometimes shocks us when we notice the comparison between ours and other grower’s crops. Recently, a competitor started growing microgreens in our area. In a small town like ours, this can easily take away some of our business. We decided to look closely at what they had on offer and make sure to check the quality of our produce in relation to theirs.

We bought some microgreens direct from the farmer which was harvested maybe the day before. It was already looking a bit limp, but how you process them and keep them cold can make a huge difference in quality, so we thought maybe they were not kept adequately cool. After just about 3 or 4 days in our fridge, they were essentially not fit for consumption. To be fair, we could add a few days onto the shelf life of these, if they were properly processed.

We decided to do a fridge trial of some of our diverse microgreens. We always wash them in ice cold water and spin them dry, after which they are placed in plastic punnets in our fridge. This is the correct way to handle delicate leafy greens if they are to remain fresh. After fourteen days in the fridge, I took some photos. They are shown below.

All of these tiny seeds are too small to soak before use, so we water our plasma mixture directly into the soil when they are sowed. The plasma is added to our nutrient formula and watered every day after germination. These larger style micros are usually grown for about ten days to two weeks after germination and then cut, still with their cotyledons on and a set of true leaves out. In essence a mini seedling. As you can see, they are firm, still colourful, crispy and fresh. Some of the cotyledons had yellowed over the two weeks.

We are happy to see our produce is far superior to the other goods on offer and can happily tell all our clients this.