…is the mother of invention, so they say.
My microgreens operation has undergone a number of changes, and will continue to do so. The most painful change was in the tray bottoms: the original bottoms I purchased from a local hardware and garden store are extremely flimsy and cannot hold up to the regular shifting and transport that my business requires. With the restaurant contract, I needed trays that would not leak, so I ordered some heavy-duty ones from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They are significantly more expensive, but they will clearly last longer than the cheap ones.
Unfortunately, they are also slightly wider and longer! This meant that the original wire shelving units I was using for hauling to and displaying at the Farmers Market no longer worked very well.
The wire shelves worked great for the cheap trays, which fit cleanly between the posts in both directions. The new trays are about a quarter inch too big in both directions to fit properly.
I sat down and came up with a design that would allow me to transport half a dozen trays and display four trays at a slant that not only makes them easier to see, but also easier to harvest from for customers (the shelves only let me move and display four trays). After going over the design with my favorite handyman (my dad!) and checking the prices on aluminum, mild steel, and stainless steel, we came up with a metal design that is less bulky and lighter weight than the original wooden design I came up with.
These new, adjustable shelves allow me to transport six trays flat and display four trays at an angle.