Applied Research & Education · Twin Cities, MN

Grow extraordinary food anywhere there is light and water.

SproutSpace teaches household-scale cultivation of aquatic superfoods and gourmet mushrooms — no soil, no subscriptions, no backyard required.

Food was something you grew,
understood, and shared.

Two workshop tracks. One philosophy.

Wolffia globosa — the smallest flowering plant on earth — contains more protein per gram than soybeans. Lemna minor is studied by NASA for life support applications. Oyster mushrooms are among the most accessible, high-yield crops available to independent producers. All three remain almost entirely unknown to American home growers. SproutSpace is changing that.


Every system we teach is low-dependency by design: no pumps, no proprietary nutrients, no subscription inputs. Complexity is only added where it demonstrably improves outcomes.

Aquatic Cultivation

Simple water-based growing systems for Wolffia and Lemna. Nutrient solutions derived from composting — closing the loop conventional hydroponic systems leave open. Participants leave with a living system, care guide, and the knowledge to teach their neighbor.

No pumps No mined nutrients Windowsill-ready

Mushroom Cultivation

Hands-on workshops covering spawn culturing, building a 3-gallon grow bucket to take home, substrate management, sun-charging for Vitamin D2, drying, and preparation. Participants leave with a living grow system, a care guide, and a small recipe book.

Culture your own spawn Take home system Recipe book included

Food security should not require acreage, wealth, or specialized credentials.

Nearly 40 million Americans live more than a mile from a grocery store. Over 102 million Americans rent their homes. 72% of people who aren't growing food cite lack of space as the only reason why. SproutSpace is built for them.

102M Americans who rent their homes
72% of non-growers cite space as the barrier
40M Americans more than 1 mile from a grocery store
$0 minimum to get started with open-source guides

"I had spent years optimizing industrial food systems from the inside. I began asking a different question."

Built by an engineer. Grounded in care.

SproutSpace grew from a personal reckoning. After leaving a decade-long career in software and agricultural technology — including work with Cargill, one of the world's largest food supply companies — our founder left to care for a family member through injury and cancer treatment.


That experience made abstract systems personal. The question wasn't how to optimize the supply chain. It was what meaningful nutrition could look like inside the spatial and financial constraints of an ordinary home, without depending on that chain at all.


The answer was a category of crops largely overlooked by large-scale agriculture, combined with methods simple enough to learn in an afternoon and teach your neighbor the following week.


Join Our First Workshops

Workshops · Twin Cities, MN

Be the first to know.

SproutSpace is launching 20 pilot workshops in the Twin Cities beginning in 2025 — twice monthly, 10–20 participants each. Join the list to be notified when registration opens.

No spam. Just workshops, open-source guides, and the occasional duckweed update.

Let's talk about what grows.

Whether you're interested in workshops, institutional programming, school and library partnerships, or just want to know more about the world's smallest flowering plant — we'd love to hear from you.

Interested in hosting a workshop?

SproutSpace works with schools, libraries, sustainability organizations, and community groups to bring hands-on cultivation education directly to your community. Programming is designed to be engaging, science-based, and accessible to all ages.

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