Urbana organic farm tasting success and sustainability

Bill Bagby calls his business Tiny Greens Organic Farm, but with it he's gone green in big ways.

Foremost among those is the underground cement building in which sprouts and baby micro-greens are grown, some hydroponically, and some in the company's own compost mix.

He calls the structure an "eco-builder's dream."

The south-facing building sports a green roof – believed to be the first on a commercial building in this area – and uses passive solar lighting, radiant heating and cooling, and super insulation.

So do the five other buildings on the 30-acre piece of idyllic land in Urbana Township where Tiny Greens is located, along with the Ananda Liinda yoga community.

Tiny Greens, a business entity separate from Ananda Liinda, also boasts a water system that acts like a wetland, naturally treating and recycling water on site. The dirtiest water passes through a seven-stage cleaning process.

The system, which Bagby worked out with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and J.J. Cole, a water microbiologist then at the University of Illinois, means Tiny Greens does not use city water or sewage services.

Also, Tiny Greens runs its refrigerated delivery truck on french-fry fuel instead of diesel. And Bagby is considering installing solar electric and wind energy systems.

As for getting the green roof, Bagby had to fight with his architects and structural engineers, who said it couldn't be done. He finally convinced them by asking whether he had to show them all the online information on green-roof architecture.

A green roof is one that's typically covered with a layer of waterproof material and then soil planted with vegetation – in the case of Tiny Greens, grass and flowers to give neighbors a nice view. The plants provide insulation and reduce air pollution.

Getting an eco-roof might have been a hassle for Bagby, but it's paid off.

The winter heating bill at the former Tiny Greens facility, which had a traditional roof and insulation, averaged $1,000 a month. The highest heating bill so far in the new building, which is roughly the same size as the old one, was $485 in 2000-01, a cold winter.

Going green also has helped Bagby and his wife, Luciana Rezende-Bagby, live a sustainable and comfortable life in their home not too far from the sprouts facility.

Bagby remembers one winter day when his wife burned food inside their kitchen. They opened all the windows to clear the smoke; it was 5 or 6 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

"After we closed the windows we were right back up to 70 degrees in two minutes with the radiant heat. I'm not exaggerating," he said.

In warm weather, the family and their friends enjoy a 25-foot-deep pond that Bagby had constructed near the home.

Elsewhere on the land – where you feel removed from city life – areas not planted with vegetables and herbs have remained wild with native prairie grasses, wildflowers and woods through which the Salt Fork Creek flows.

With his business and land, it seems as if Bagby – described by friends as dynamic and super-industrious – has plenty to do. But last year he started Tiny Greens Kitchen. From the mobile unit, chef Steve Moore sells prepared foods at farmers' markets in Urbana and Chicago that feature Tiny Greens products.

Bagby developed the recipes himself, partly to educate customers who ask how to use his sprouts and micro-greens. The Tiny Greens Kitchen offers Nori Roll, The Sproutwich, Sunny Crunch Wrap, Pizza Del Mercato and Quesadilla Verde. Bagby has even posted recipes at www.tinygreens.org under the products link.

At Tiny Greens, he and his employees grow 10 kinds of sprouts – the biggest sellers are alfalfa and mung-bean – and roughly the same number of baby micro-greens. They're all "incredibly high in all kinds of nutrients, vitamins and minerals," and that's one reason Bagby decided to become a sprouts farmer.

He originally set out to be a musician. After graduating in 1973 from Rantoul Township High, he studied music composition and theory at the UI for 3 1/2 years. His parents wanted him to have a Yale degree, so he moved to New Haven, Conn.

He never finished school. Instead he worked for the Red Cross and other nonprofit agencies. One received a donation of a sprouts farm, which Bagby managed for four years.

Deciding that the East Coast was too competitive and fast-paced, he decided to return to the friendlier Midwest and establish his own sprouts farm here. His first was in Thomasboro, south of Rantoul and centrally located to markets in Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. He moved to High Cross Road in August 2000 with the aim of having an eco-friendly place.

He got his start here in 1986 with a bank loan.

"I had put on my resume and work history 'creativity and disaster relief,'" Bagby remembered. "The banker said, 'Those are the two best qualities you need to run a business.'"

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