ONE Allora local is growing up an alternative to traditional salad greens.

The Best Little Town on the Downs is home to Micro Market Garden, the micro green growing business started by Deanna Kotsopoulos.

Ms Kotsopoulos is the only supplier of the nutrient-rich vegetables on the Southern Downs, supplying a handful of cafes and local customers across the region.

"Mum and dad had the property for about 15 years and we've been growing out on the property for the last two years,” she said.

"Coming from a Mediterranean background I'd always had a love of heirloom vegetables.

"When I looked further into intensive farming practices it led me to find that micro greens were something you can grow in a small plot intensively and still have a relatively high turn over.

"It's not cheap to buy the seed and because they're so deeply planted they use a lot of seed, and that's what put a lot of people off growing them.”

Grown in trays, micro greens are the earliest stage of a plant before they become a seedling.

Ms Kotsopoulos explained they had fast become a popular product under the super foods movement.

She said because they were harvested in the earliest stages of the plant's life, they were bursting with nutrients and flavour.

"For the first six months I was just trying to get things established and then started selling them,” Ms Kotsopoulos said.

"I was the original supplier for the whole Darling Downs.

"Now there's one other guy who's started growing in Toowoomba while everyone else gets them from Rocklea.

"I was really drawn to growing them because they have up to 40 times the nutrients when they're at that stage because everything is so concentrated.

"Micro greens are when the plant is harvested before it gets it's second true set of leaves, while it's still an edible powerhouse rather than a seedling.”

With such a narrow window in which to harvest, Ms Kotsopoulos said it could be tricky to get the timing just right.

"It is an art to get them at the right stage as sometimes you have just a few hours to harvest,” she said.

"This recent heatwave sped things up and actually ruined a few trays.

"My biggest seller is probably the pea micro greens, like my snow pea and dwarf grey pea, and they can be grown for a bit longer, up to between 5-10cm.

"Another one I grow is sunflowers, which not a lot of people realise you can get as micro greens, after they've tasted them, people love them because they have a sweeter, nutty flavour.

"Those two are my bread and butter mix and the beginnings of a great micro green salad.”

Ms Kotsopoulos said because everything is so concentrated she opted to use certified organic practices and compost and rainwater on her plants.

She also sells china rose and red sango radish, rocket and red garnet amaranth, as well as a peppery mustard micro green she says tastes more like wasabi.

"It really concentrates the flavour, and the red varieties are great for a pop of colour,” Ms Kotsopoulos said.

"People are realising micro greens are not just garnishes any more and they're actually a nutritious meal in itself.

"In Allora I have Frog and Swallow as a regular customer and a few others who pick things up regularly, and I've been going to Stanthorpe Seasonal Feast.

"I'm going to be brave and start going to more cafes, and if there were enough orders I'd love to do that for Warwick customers too.”

For more, phone Deanna on 0437767100 or find Micro Market Garden on Facebook.