The “NYT” in NYT Farm stands for Not Your Traditional, and they grow microgreens and wheatgrass. Microgreens are the third stage of the plant’s development, when they are at their most nutritious and delicious. From amaranth, arugula and broccoli to radish and sunflower, they have over a dozen varieties. Their website describes the tasting notes of each with the same detail and fervor as a wine sommelier, and includes recipes, nutritional overview, and potential health benefits. We asked CEO/President Mark Hotchkiss to tell us more.

“Two years ago, I was doing some plant-related research and came across microgreens. I was amazed that their vitamin and antioxidant levels are up to 40 times higher than mature greens.

My wife Laura and I, and our daughter Amanda and her family, were living in Texas at the time, and together, we founded NYT Farm, selling directly to consumers, restaurants and juice bars.

Early last year, we all moved to Clarendon, and established the farm here. Our microgreens are organically grown, from organic and non-GMO seeds and supplies, in a climate-controlled environment that allows them to thrive. They’re grown in small batches and harvested by hand. We’re super picky about quality at every stage. There’s a part of my process that I haven’t seen other growers do, and I’ll be keeping that a secret. I think it sets us above our competition, and our customers’ response tells me that it pays off.

Fresh microgreens have a relatively short shelf life, so we freeze-dry them and make them accessible to everyone as a Microgreen Mix powder, which is a highly nutritious blend. It comes in capsules or a powder. Just one capsule, or a ¼ teaspoon of powder is equivalent to a serving of vegetables. The powder is great in soups, smoothies, pasta sauce, rice and burgers; there are so many ways to use it. We also use freeze-dried microgreens in other products, like our chili powder that comes in mild, medium, and ghost pepper, and that we also use to flavor our pumpkin seed snacks.

Our high-quality wheatgrass juice powder has many potential health benefits such as lowering cholesterol, aiding in recovery from surgery or chemotherapy, and increased blood flow. Wheatgrass is full of Chlorophyll, and it oxygenates your blood stream. We also offer it in capsules if you don’t like the taste of wheatgrass juice.