About Us
We believe that indoor farming has an important role to play -
now and in the the future of food.
Our Story
Collective Joy has been serving the Kingston and wider community for over 11 years! We are proud to supply nourishing microgreens and high quality, plant-based products to you, our friends and neighbours.
Our wide range of nutrient-rich microgreens are grown right here in Kingston, ensuring they are accessible to you at truly peak freshness and require no extra resources in the form of shipping and storage.
Being right in the city means we are close to many businesses, community organizations, and schools - allowing greater and richer opportunities for knowledge-sharing, education, and collaboration.
You can find our produce and products at the Memorial Centre Farmers' Market, or place an order online for weekend delivery to your door!
We are so thankful to be here doing what we do - increasing your access to truly fresh, nourishing food, and hopefully, inspiring a little joy along the way.
Sharing our Knowledge
After many successful years in indoor farming we are passionate about sharing what we have learned about the incredible potential of year-round farming for helping address the many challenges of food security.
Visit our Experience-based Learning page to learn more about our consultations, Nourish & GROW program, workshops, and more. Get in touch, we would love to hear from you!
Why Vertical Farming?
Save Water
In our climate-controlled indoor farm we grow our microgreens vertically on racks under LED grow lights where they thrive in an efficient system that uses very little water.
Year-Round Produce
We use certified organic seed, certified organic growing medium, and water. No herbicides, pesticides or additional nutrients are required.
Our system is efficient, cost-effective and results in very high productivity in a small area. Our greens are beautiful, vitamin and mineral rich, and grown right in the community where they will be eaten, year-round.
Fresh and Local
This is a winning formula with no long supply chains, or produce sitting on shelves losing nutrient value - simply the freshest, top quality young greens, grown and available, right in your city.
Zero-Waste
All of the compost generated in our operation is used at our nearby regenerative agriculture partner farm or the Oak Street Community Garden. We enrich beds annually and seasonally, nourishing the soil to produce a bounty of edible flowers and herbs in season.
Growing trays are washed and re-used and zero waste is generated during our growing process.
Why Microgreens?
Nutritious and Delicious
Microgreens are the very young shoots of vegetables and herbs, which we harvest when they are 10-21 days old depending on variety. To the delight of all, these delicate young greens taste just like the vegetables or herbs they are and come in a vast array of flavours, textures, and colours. They look beautiful on the plate and compliment every dish.
In addition to being beautiful and delicious, they are also a highly nutritious food source, and are increasingly being recognized in scientific literature as a valuable functional food source.
Rich in Vitamins
Microgreens are rich in vitamins (especially vitamin C), minerals (such as copper and zinc), and phytochemicals that act as antioxidants in the body (Zhang et al).
Functional Foods
Increasingly, studies are showing that microgreens as functional food are not only nutritious, but beneficial to human health with a role to play in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Research in this area is ongoing, and very exciting (Zhang et al and Choe et al).
A recent Science Daily article titled "Small but Mighty: Microgreens have gone from Trendy Vegetables to Functional Food" says it all!
Resilient to Change
At Penn State University, a team of international researchers even point to microgreens grown in indoor systems as relevant to global events like disrupted supply chains and circumstances related to climate change in a study titled "Food Resilience in the Face of Catastrophic Global Events".
Microgreens are truly a valuable food source now and have great potential for the future. For those wishing to learn more, many more studies and articles can be viewed here.
