Margo Clayson decided to create her business, The Mighty Microgreen, for an entrepreneurship class project on a whim by a suggestion from her son, and over the course of nearly five years, it has become mighty successful.

She began by selling microgreens at the Portneuf Valley Farmers Market in Pocatello while educating the public about the health benefits of including microgreens in their diets. The concept quickly grew popular, and she began offering classes to the public on a mission to help families, especially children, incorporate more nutrients into their diets.

“My whole goal with the business was to teach people to eat more vegetables,” Clayson said, “and what I found at the farmers market was that most of what I had to do was educate people on what microgreens are and why they're so good for you. As soon as they understood that and then they tasted them, they were sold. I grew microgreens for the farmer's market for four years, and then last year I had a total change because I had started teaching people how to grow their own microgreens.”

Clayson, who lives in Inkom, was contracted at the Institute of Rural Health at Idaho State University to teach people how to grow microgreens, which she says was “the impetus to totally change the focus of my business from growing for other people to getting people to grow for themselves because that's where you can really make a difference.”

Clayson is especially encouraging children and parents to incorporate microgreens into their diets.

“My real mission is to get children to eat vegetables,” she said. “Two years ago I read a statistic that in the United States, and this includes kids in Idaho, 98 percent of kids do not eat enough vegetables to support physical and mental health. So instead of having to put half a cup of vegetables on a plate and a kid just stares at it and whines and complains and never does eat them, you can hide a little handful of microgreens (on their plate) and they’re getting the same nutrients.”

Clayson offers classes for anyone locally and has taught over 2,500 people how to grow microgreens in the last two years.

She says, “The classes are free, and we even provide the materials. (Students) go home with a couple of planted trays.”

The Mighty Microgreen represented Idaho in the 2022 Small Business Majority Gift Guide.

“The Small Business Majority is a nationwide group that supports women and the minority with small businesses,” Clayson said. “They put out a gift guide each year and they give the opportunity to (a few) businesses from each state to be featured, and I was chosen to represent Idaho. I was pretty excited because what I'm doing is unique.”

Clayson recently went to Franklin Junior High with a couple of Americorps volunteers to teach around 250 children about nutrition and how to grow microgreens, and she described the type of kit she uses to teach children.

“There are a lot of people that sell microgreens and microgreen kits,” Clayson said, “but what I sell is not just a kit. In fact, one of my kits is specifically for young people. It's a STEM nutrition and microgreen educational kit. Nobody is using microgreens to teach nutrition, and that's what my focus is.”

Clayson described the challenges she faced as a solo female entrepreneur — and how choosing to focus more on educating the public by selling kits has affected her business.

“As a commercial grower, I learned a lot,” Clayson said. “What I've done is taken that commercial growing experience and scaled it down so that people are growing the same way I did as a commercial grower, but on their window sill, which is also a cheaper option (compared to buying microgreens). I don't make a whole lot of money out of it, but what I'm doing is making it affordable for families.”

To schedule a class with The Mighty Microgreen, contact Clayson at 208-775-3775 or margo@themightymicrogreen.com. Classes can also be scheduled on her website themightymicrogreen.com. To learn more about The Mighty Microgreen, check her Facebook or Instagram, @themightymicrogreen.