Meet Leslie Jackson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Jackson.

Hi Leslie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was living in Orange County, CA in 2017 and felt completely burned out, like I needed a big change. I quit my accounting job at the time and put my condo up for sale. I moved most of my belongings into storage and packed up my two cats and a suitcase and moved by myself to Sedona, AZ.

In the month that it took me to find and close escrow on a home, I stayed in a vacation rental in Sedona. Once settled in my new home, I realized that I was tired of working for others and wanted to start some kind of business of my own. Even though money was getting tight, I decided to give myself six months to figure something out.

I promised myself that in that amount of time, I would not stress about money or beat myself up for not knowing what to do. I hiked every single day, (which I love), and explored every inch of Sedona that I could find. During that time, I did my best to let go of old ways of thinking, have a completely open mind, and be happy at the moment.

One day, after hiking and meditation, I was searching on YouTube for gardening ideas for my new backyard. A video popped up showing how easy it is to grow microgreens hydroponically, and the incredible health benefits they provide. I love plants and got really excited about maybe trying to grow them.

I ordered some coconut coir and seeds online and went down to the local Goodwill to see if they had any other growing supplies. That day, they happened to have a grow light and a large flat plastic container that worked perfectly for experimenting with the greens. (I’ve been there countless times since and have never again seen a grow light for sale there).

I did not decide to make a business out of growing microgreens that day. I did have a child-like excitement for seeing if I could grow them and totally enjoyed researching the different ways it could be done. Once I proved to myself that I could grow with reasonable reliability, a friend helped me set up an indoor grow room in my spare bedroom in my home. That was a lot of fun too!

I designed the space after researching online and we installed a sink, an air conditioner, a work table, racks, and grow lights. I modeled my business after the folks in that original video that I had watched but made some changes to make it my own. I went way out of my comfort zone, as I certainly have no experience in art and design, and came up with a logo. My son, Eric, had the idea for the name, and “Blue Meets Greens” was born.

I tested out my products and continued to learn how to grow in the next year by selling at local farmer’s markets. During that time, I had so much fun trying out all sorts of new seeds and varieties. Most people online said to stick with a few basic varieties to grow when starting a business, but that wasn’t for me. I tried every edible seed I could find to see if I could grow them hydroponically. The ones that didn’t work ended up in my garden outside.

After getting very comfortable with the seeds that I could grow reliably, I began to approach chefs at local restaurants in Sedona. Shortly after that, I had a wonderful lady approach me at a farmer’s market who worked at Enchantment Resort.

She had told the head chef there about my greens that I sell life and helped me get twice-weekly orders from him. Ever since I have been selling to Sedona restaurants and have even gotten requests for new varieties that I didn’t know about. I always love a new challenge. Some chefs even patiently waited for weeks until I got their requests right!

When the covid narrative hit, all of my customers closed down except for Interdependence Natural Foods in Sedona. That’s when I gave out the grow room full of microgreens, (greens that were growing for restaurants that had closed and would have wasted), free to local residents.

During the next six months or so when the restaurants were closed, I began selling and delivering to local residents weekly. I started a subscription plan for those who eat them on a regular basis and gave free samples to those wanting to try them and get healthier.

Now, I enjoy growing for and delivering to, a mix of Sedona restaurants, Interdependence Natural Foods, and local individual residents. I deliver the microgreens live in the food-safe plastic containers in which they are grown and pick the containers up the following week upon delivery.

There is no waste as even the coconut fiber pads are reusable and compostable. I have made so many good friends from my deliveries and am still enjoying growing microgreens to provide to the community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a fairly smooth road. When the Covid narrative hit and all of my restaurant customers closed, I refused to just close up.

One thing that I’m very mindful of is not wasting food. I contacted local shelters and food banks to see if they would like the microgreens that were growing for the closed restaurants. Unfortunately, most of them do not have refrigeration facilities so that didn’t work so well.

I then advertised the free greens on “NextDoor” and delivered those in a frenzy in the next few weeks. Delivering free to residences gave me the idea to go ahead and sell to individuals but the only trays I had were pretty large for restaurants. I researched online and came up with single and double trays instead of ones that hold four to eight for the restaurants. Now, I’m more versatile as even the restaurants want smaller amounts at times.

Another challenge I have is running this business alone. I’m pretty much tied to being here daily to water and seed as well as deliveries twice a week. I’ve tried training folks to cover for me, but so far nothing has worked out long term. I probably just need to change my mindset and let go of having to do everything myself!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in organic microgreens sold live so they are the freshest and most nutrient-dense possible.

I enjoy getting them to the consumer as quickly as possible after they are “ready”. I keep a schedule so that each variety gets seeded on an optimum day. When the delivery day arrives, they have not been sitting around for days, they are ready to go on that day so that they will last as long as possible for the customer.

I am most proud of providing a live, organic, fresh, healthy product to the consumer. I’d love to see the world start moving away from “corporatism” and put the focus back on individuals and small businesses with their unique talents to share.

I am no different from anyone else. I think I just hit a wall and realized that running around in a frenzy daily trying to make money and impress others doesn’t make anyone happy. When you focus on what you love, you get into a place where you can naturally help others around you.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Every year, we would have my dad’s side of the family over for the 4th of July. We would BBQ and then get to light fireworks off in our front yard.

I just loved picking out the fireworks with my dad and brothers and lining them up on the front steps before it got dark. My grandma was always there smiling and laughing and the whole day was just wonderful.

Contact information:

Website: www.bluemeetsgreens.com