MICROGREEN BUSINESS GUIDE · MARKHAM, IL

Start a microgreen business in Markham, IL.

Most Markham residents do not realize that some of the freshest produce in the South Suburbs could be coming out of a spare bedroom right here in Cook County. While the big grocers truck in greens that lose flavor on the highway, a tray of microgreens grown a few blocks from your kitchen is harvested the morning it sells. Markham sits minutes from Harvey, Hazel Crest, and Homewood, all within easy reach of a downtown Chicago food scene that pays premium prices for ultra-fresh garnish. The demand is already on your doorstep.

Quick Answer

You can start a microgreen business in Markham with under $400 in initial equipment and grow it into a $1,500 to $3,500 per month side income within 90 days. Here is the local demand picture, the unit economics at Markham wholesale prices, and the operating system used by working microgreen farms.

When you think about how far the greens at your local store traveled before they hit the shelf, what does that tell you about how a chef in Homewood or Hazel Crest would react to a tray harvested that same morning?

What Markham buys today

Chefs across the South Suburbs and into downtown Chicago lean on microgreens for plating, and the ones near Markham are no exception. Restaurants in Homewood, Flossmoor, and the surrounding dining corridors want pea shoots, radish, and micro-cilantro delivered fresh, not trucked in half-dead. A local grower who can hand-deliver same-day has an edge no national distributor can match.

Farmers markets and farm-stand retail across Cook County move microgreens fast, especially among health-conscious shoppers who already pay for organic. Selling clamshells directly to families in Markham, Harvey, and Midlothian skips the middleman entirely, and a single weekend table can clear more than a full restaurant route. Repeat buyers come back every week once they taste the difference.

Because microgreens grow indoors under lights, the brutal Chicago winter that kills every outdoor plot becomes your advantage. While other growers go dormant from November through March, you are harvesting year-round in a climate-controlled room, charging premium off-season prices when fresh local greens are nearly impossible to find anywhere near Markham.

If a restaurant in nearby Country Club Hills is already paying a distributor for wilted micro-arugula, what would have to happen for them to start buying from a grower right here in Markham instead?

The math, in Markham prices

Wholesale microgreens move at roughly $25 to $40 per pound across the Chicago metro, and chef-direct sales in the South Suburbs sit near the top of that range.

Startup cost

$400

Trays, soil, seed, lights. Used gear cuts this in half.

Per-tray net

$20-$30

After seed, soil, packaging, delivery.

Trays per week

100

Target for $3K-$5K/mo at Markham pricing.

Break-even week

Week 4

First positive cash week. Most growers hit it.

What that looks like in Markham square footage

A 10 by 10 foot room dedicated to vertical racks can produce a surprising volume of sellable trays each week, enough to supply several restaurants and a market table right here in Markham.

Have you ever considered that Chicago's long, gray winters, the same ones that shut down every outdoor garden in Cook County, are exactly when indoor microgreens command their highest prices?

Three things every working microgreen farm in Markham runs on

  1. A seed density and watering plan you trust. The number one cause of failed trays for new growers is over- or under-seeding. The cheat sheet inside Grown Like A Pro gives you grams per 10x20, soak hours, blackout days, harvest day, and watering for sixty-one varieties.
  2. A rotation tracker. Once you are running thirty-plus trays per week, you cannot remember what is in blackout, what is in light growth, what harvests Tuesday. A spreadsheet works for the first month. After that you need a system that pings you the day before each harvest and reorders seed before you run out.
  3. A customer + invoice layer. Restaurants in Markham want predictable weekly invoices and net-15 terms. Farmers market customers want clamshell tracking. Both want consistency. The app handles both.

The IKEA test

If you can follow an IKEA instruction sheet without screaming at the family, you can grow microgreens at a commercial level in Markham. The steps are about that difficulty: open the box, lay out the parts, follow the picture, repeat. Trays are the bookcase. Seed is the dowels.

If you ever did struggle with the IKEA bookshelf, that is exactly why Glappy lives inside the app. Glappy is the in-app coach that breaks every step down barney style, in your own language, from "how do I plant my first tray" to "why is this tray going leggy at day five and what do I do about it tonight." Type the question, get a step-by-step answer. There is no question too basic. The whole point is that a Markham grower starting today is not on their own.

What you are not buying

You are not buying a course. You are not buying a hype product. You are not buying seed from us, and you are not buying trays from us. We do not sell either. Grown Like A Pro is the operating system you run your Markham farm on. The growing happens in your basement.

Try Grown Like A Pro free for 30 days →

Markham microgreen FAQ

How much can I make growing microgreens in Markham?
A working microgreen farm in Markham produces $3,000 to $8,000 per month within 90 days of starting. The math: 100 trays per week, $20 to $30 net revenue per tray, harvested in a basement, garage, or spare room. The ceiling is set by how many restaurants and farmers market customers you can serve, not by the growing setup.
Is it legal to sell microgreens in IL?
Yes. In most of Illinois, microgreens fall under the state's cottage food law for direct-to-consumer retail at farmers markets and to private customers. Restaurant wholesale typically requires a basic food handler permit. Verify with the Illinois Department of Agriculture before you sign a wholesale contract.
What microgreens sell best in Markham?
Sunflower, pea shoots, and radish are the three highest-volume sellers in nearly every U.S. city, including Markham. Broccoli is the highest-margin variety because of its sulforaphane reputation with health-focused buyers. Specialty varieties like amaranth and shiso command premium pricing from chef-driven restaurants.
How much space do I need to grow microgreens in Markham?
A 10 by 10 foot room with two shelving units holds 60 to 80 active trays, which is enough to produce $3,000 to $5,000 per month. A basement, garage corner, spare bedroom, or sunroom all work in Markham's climate. Vertical shelving is the fastest path to higher revenue per square foot.
What is the best app for tracking microgreen production in Markham?
Grown Like A Pro is the operating system used by working microgreen farms in Markham. It handles seed density math, watering schedules, harvest timing, inventory, customer orders, and the financial side. Free 30-day trial with no credit card.
How long does it take to learn to grow microgreens commercially?
Most growers in Markham are selling their first trays within 30 days of starting. Commercial proficiency, meaning you can run 50-plus trays per week without losing crops to mold or under-seeding, takes 60 to 90 days. The seed density and watering math is the single biggest predictor of how fast you get there.
Do I need a license to sell microgreens in Markham?
For farmers market and direct-to-consumer sales in Markham, most growers operate under Illinois's cottage food law with no special license. For wholesale to restaurants and grocery stores, you typically need a basic food handler permit, a sales tax permit, and depending on volume, an inspection from your county health department.
How do I price microgreens to restaurants in Markham?
Restaurant wholesale in Markham runs $1.50 to $2.50 per ounce for standard varieties, $3 to $5 per ounce for specialty varieties like shiso, micro basil, or amaranth. Sell by the pound for repeat accounts. Local fresh commands a premium over the shipped-in product that most Markham restaurants currently buy.

Related guides

Once you have the Markham math in your head, the next read is the density chart that drives every tray you plant.

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