Pastimes for Routt County resident Nick Osadchuk are beyond average.

As a former Red Bull-sponsored athlete, his chosen sport was ice cross, a winter extreme event where four downhill skaters race on a walled track with sharp turns and drops.

His day job is running special events on his family’s Lucky 8 Ranch north of Oak Creek where guests encounter huge bison.

His entrepreneurial side business is growing tiny vegetables.

Osadchuk, 37, is the founder of Electric Microgreens in downtown Oak Creek, where he grows miniature vegetable greens year-round. His microgreens are grown from non-GMO seeds and harvested at an early stage of development. The fresh, vibrantly colored greens are sold across Routt County in multiple food markets and found in restaurants such as Café Diva and Lupita’s Cantina.

“Nick has a true passion from his products,” said vendor Sascha Stanger, owner of Sascha’s Gourmet Goods in Oak Creek. “The customers love the product. They love that it’s grown right here in Oak Creek.”

The gourmet food store owner is a fan of Electric Microgreens’ flavor, fresh quality and true connection to the local producer. Stanger said the spicy mix and arugula are customer favorites, and he adds the raw microgreens to top his chicken dishes, salads and baked potatoes.

Osadchuk sells at summer farmers markets in Steamboat Springs and Vail and can deliver orders within 24 hours of harvesting to residential customers in Steamboat Springs and Oak Creek.

Interestingly, Osadchuk did not grow up liking to eat vegetables, often as an adult living off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or low-nutrient gas station food when working in construction.

“I’ve been an athlete my entire life, but it wasn’t until I hit my 30s when eating healthy and my food choices became an important part of my life,” Osadchuk explained. “I had an extremely high metabolism throughout my entire competitive career, and to me, my food choices were more about quantity rather than quality.”

“After my body started changing into a dad bod, I realized something had to change,” said the father of a 3-year-old daughter. “Now instead of grabbing a bag of chips, I grab a couple handfuls of Micro Sunflowers as a snack.”

The indoor farmer raises products ranging from leek microgreens, which are his personal favorite to eat, to a super-food mix with 10 veggies, which is his top seller.

The busy producer has tested varieties and dialed in his offerings for quality and flavor since he opened the business in 2023. He grows indoors in a controlled environment where he is able to regulate lighting, temperature, humidity and water, and he grows without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. 

Osadchuk enjoys contributing to the Yampa Valley agricultural community of locally grown, fresh and nutrient-dense products, especially during the winter months. Electric Microgreens utilizes efficient vertical farming techniques in a 500-square-foot location, and he grows some 1,000 pounds of microgreens or about 7,000 retail packs each year.

Learn more at ElectricMicrogreens.com.