Today we’d like to introduce you to Helenna Snowden.
Hi Helenna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve been growing plants since I was a child, starting with putting lemon seeds in pots to see if they would grow. They did, and one of those trees is still alive today. When my husband and I bought our first home in College Station, I was excited to start a butterfly garden and learn about native plants. When we left that house and moved to west Texas, I built a pond with a waterfall in the backyard and included a section for bog plants. I grew fruit trees and worked to keep the roses that came with the house alive. I tried our the espalier method by growing fruit trees up the walls of the house.
When we had to move and came back to central Texas, Copperas Cove, I was limited in what I could do because we were renting and I couldn’t garden in the yard. I had heard of microgreens and thought they sounded like a great option since they can be grown indoors. I was also very interested in becoming an entrepreneur. In the past I’ve started a blog about carnivorous plants and then another one about finance, hoping to sell digital items to my readers. It was fun but didn’t make any money. I also sold items on Etsy where I created designs and then put them on T-shirts, cups, and pet products. I also wrote a personal finance book and published it to Amazon. Right now, I am working on a book about how to start a small business. So I am constantly looking for new things to try and fun ways to share what I’ve learned.
Starting a microgreens business seemed like the perfect combination of plants and business. So in January of 2025, I grew my first trays of microgreens. Since the house we rent is large, I am able to use one of the bedrooms for my microgreens. Once I had figured out how to grow them, after some online research, reading books, and trial and error, I started looking for places to sell them.
I visited farmers markets in Austin and Killeen as well as in other nearby cities. I joined the markets that seemed like a good fit. Now I sell live trays of microgreens at market as well as containers or harvested microgreens. Usually I have 5 varieties of microgreens, plus trays of cat grass for the pet lovers.
From the very beginning, sustainability has been very important to me. I use only Organic seeds and soil, and all of my planting trays are heavy-duty so that I can reuse them. I wash them in the bath tub after each use. I also use commercially compostable clamshells to package the microgreens, and I sell live microgreens in small trays that the customer can return to me so I can reuse them. At markets I use compostable cornstarch-based bags to pack customer items.
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?
My biggest challenge has been finding the right markets to sell at. This is something I am still figuring out. Many of the large Austin markets already have microgreen growers and aren’t accepting more. Many of the smaller markets have few customers who are looking for microgreens, or if they are in smaller towns, many people don’t know what microgreens are. I am often explaining the benefits of microgreens to market visitors and showing them how they grow. I do find that bringing small trays of microgreens with me is helpful, and I sell those as well.
Another challenge is that I still work a full time job, so I am limited on the time I can spend on my business. Scheduling is very important with microgreens. If I am late starting a tray, the microgreens may not be big enough to harvest. So I have to plan that around my work schedule and other events in my life.
Also, starting a microgreen business requires an upfront investment in trays, shelving, lights, seeds, heaters, soil, packaging, and more. So at this point it is not yet self-sustaining, but I’m hopeful that it will be soon. I started in January of 2025, so it has only been just over a year.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Yummy Little Plants?
I run a one-woman business growing and selling microgreens. I sell harvested microgreens, such as broccoli, sweet pea, sunflower, radish, and mixes. I also sell 4×6″ trays of live microgreens that the customer can harvest as they use them. I set up at farmers markets and also sell online on my website, but most of my sales are at Lampasas County Farmers Market and Crafts. Recently I joined a grocery pick up at Artisan’s Alley in Copperas Cove where customers can order and pick up a variety of vegetables and bakery goods each week, supplied by local vendors.
I have also branched out a little bit and sell a small selection of terrariums that I have created. And I am growing some vegetable starts as well for customers that want to grow tomatoes or peppers. But my main product is still microgreens. As someone who loves to grow plants, I just wanted to add a few more plants to the list.
I’m proud to have regular customers who buy from me again and again and who love my microgreens for their freshness and flavor. One of my best moments was when I was shopping at a store in Copperas Cove and a lady came up to me to tell me she loves my microgreens. That really made my day!
The best way to find out which markets I will be at is to check the calendar on my website.
I sell at Lampasas County Farmers Market & Crafts which meets every Saturday 9-1 at the Lampasas County Courthouse.
Next month I’ll be joining Killeen’s Local Farmer’s Market which meets every 2nd and 4th Saturday 9-2 in the parking lot of Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply.
I also joined a grocery pickup in Copperas Cove run by Burro Malo Farm which allows customers to order and pick up items from a variety of vendors once a week. Burro Malo Farm can be contacted on Facebook for those interested.
In addition, I accept online orders on my website at yummylittleplants.com and deliver in the Killeen area and to Austin and surrounding cities. Both live trays and harvested microgreens are available online.
How do you think about luck?
I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to answer this question. I had to take a few days to think about it. And I’m still not sure I got it right. Because when I think about my life, there aren’t a lot of major good or bad luck moments that stand out. I’ve never won the lottery, I’ve never won a raffle. I didn’t have a pipe burst during snowvid/snowmageddon. I don’t have any major illnesses, although my dog did dislocate her hip while we were in the process of a major move. That cost about $4,000 to repair, but luckily my mom helped with the cost.
We have the kind of luck that jumps in at the last second and saves us before something else goes wrong. The kind that helps us pay for our dog’s hip surgery, but not the kind that keeps her from dislocating it in the first place. The kind that makes sure we can make important payments, even if they’re late, but not the kind that fixes our financial problems or prevents them in the first place. The kind that helps us buy a new refrigerator, but not the kind that prevents the old one from breaking.
And the slow kind of luck that means we are generally happy. That lets me work from home from a laptop and run a small business at the same time. The kind that lets my husband forge metal in the garage and learn to be a blacksmith. The kind that led us to rent a house with a detached garage, in an area where people don’t care if someone is loudly hitting metal with a hammer.
The kind of luck that allows me to take a week off from work so my mom, my sister, and I can go to see my grandmother in Germany who I haven’t seen in 15 years and who is sick. True, we had to put the trip on a credit card, and I could only go for a week while my sister went for 2 and my mom for 4. But I still got to go. My boss even approved my PTO even though I was 2 hours short.
We have the kind of luck that led my husband to find us a practically new, free chair and table set after we moved from Van Horn to Copperas Cove with very limited furniture. The kind of luck that let us buy a truck (with a loan) that meant we could transport the table. But also the kind of luck (or bad luck) that meant my husband’s previous car was too expensive to fix.
I’m grateful for a lot in my life. But is it luck? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the absence of bad luck and the rest falls into place.
I have a husband who supports and encourages all of my sometimes crazy ideas. Like starting a business growing microgreens. Or buying excessive amounts of fruit trees so that I can learn how to do espalier and have them grow up the walls of the house. Or digging and building a pond. Or building a large butterfly-shaped butterfly garden in the backyard. Or more recently, writing a book about how to start a small business. And when I mentioned possibly going to Germany on very short notice, he told me to go. He found someone to let our dog out during the day, because she is our baby and he knows I worry about her.
I’m grateful to have family nearby that I’m close with and that we all get along. I’m grateful that they love my husband. I’m grateful for my adorable little dog, even when she wakes me up in the middle of the night. I’m grateful for her little snores and her excitement whenever one of us gets home. I’m grateful for our cute calico cat and her crazy dashes around the house and her sassy kitty arguments. I’m grateful to have a flexible job that lets me work from my couch while drinking tea.
If that’s luck, then maybe it’s watching out for me, sending a little bit my way now and then. Or is this just life, with its ups and downs and quiet spots in between?
Pricing:
- Pricing varies depending on online or in person purchase
- In person, live 4×6″ microgreen trays are $10
- In person, harvested microgreens are $5
- Pick ups in collaboration with Burro Malo Farm are $5 for harvested microgreens and $9 for live trays since customers will be returning the empty trays. (They can be contacted on their Facebook page for grocery pick up in Copperas Cove and nearby)
- Online prices are a little higher because they include delivery
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yummylittleplants.com
- Instagram: @yummylittleplants
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/yummylittleplants
- Other: info@yummylittleplants.com
