Our Story
Welcome to Mountain Man Micro Farms! We’re more than just a farm—we’re a passionate team dedicated to delivering fresh, nutrient-rich microgreens straight to your table. At our core, we believe in sustainability, local sourcing, and the power of healthy food to transform lives. Our mission extends beyond your plate, as we use innovative aquaponics systems to grow responsibly and support global humanitarian efforts. By building sustainable practices both locally and internationally, we aim to create a brighter, healthier future for everyone.
Take a moment to explore our story and see how we’re nourishing communities one green at a time!
At Mountain Man Micro Farms, we believe in creating a healthier world, one microgreen at a time. Founded with a passion for fresh, nutrient-rich produce and a deep commitment to sustainability, we deliver locally-grown microgreens that elevate your meals while supporting a brighter future for our planet.
Our mission goes beyond just providing the freshest greens. We are dedicated to farming practices that are eco-friendly, prioritizing local sourcing and minimizing waste to protect the environment for generations to come. Every microgreen we grow embodies our values of health, flavor, and sustainability, ensuring that what’s good for you is also good for the Earth.
But our impact doesn’t stop at home. With a strong commitment to global change, we are proud to contribute to humanitarian efforts by building aquaponic systems in developing countries. These systems not only provide sustainable food sources but also empower communities with the tools and knowledge to grow their own future.
When you choose Mountain Man Micro Farms, you’re not just choosing fresh microgreens. You’re joining a mission to inspire healthier living, foster sustainable farming, and create a global ripple effect of positive change. Together, we can grow more than just greens—we can grow a healthier world.
Our Purpose
Mountain Man Micro Farms isn’t just committed to delivering fresh microgreens to Colorado residents. Our dreams are a little bigger than that.
When founder and chief farmer Andy McArdle found his passion for aquaponics, he also found a renewed purpose. With a background in wildland firefighting and volunteer work, Andy’s dreams aren’t just limited to what he can do to make a living, but what he can do to improve a life.
As an emerging science that fuses the world of hydroponics and aquaculture, aquaponics is a relatively new and untouched science in the developing world. When this valuable technology is used as a sustainable source for food and freshness, an aquaponics system has the potential to feed and enhance the lives of those facing malnourishment, hunger, and poverty. When he realized the power of this untapped resource, he knew he could help make it a reality for those who need it most.
Targeted Aquaponic Growth (TAG)
Thankfully, other leaders in the aquaponics world saw this need for charitable aquaponics development as well, and formed the nonprofit organization, Targeted Aquaponics Growth (TAG). Learn more about TAG’s mission and beginnings here.
Sitting as Director of Aquaponics and board member, Andy has played a vital role in setting up aquaponics systems in developing countries in Africa, freeing accessibility to healthy food and reducing potential for malnourishment and food-borne illness.
Our Team
Emily
Jamon
Jim
Madison
Jake
Kenny
Andy McArdle | Founder, Chief Executive Farmer
Andrew McArdle graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. degree in Natural Resource Management in 2012. In 2014, he received an M.S. degree from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi in Fisheries and Mariculture, where the bulk of his work revolved around commercial aquaponic production (the marriage of hydroponics & aquaculture).
After graduation, he worked as a Research Associate with Texas AgriLife Research in Weslaco, TX where he designed and operated a 1,500 sq ft aquaponic system that was used for both research and public outreach. In the summer of 2015, he had an opportunity to do something he had always wanted to do: wildland firefighting. He spent that summer fighting fires in Montana, South Dakota, and Idaho.
Once fire season ended, Andy started his own business, Mountain Man Micro Farms LLC, in November of 2015. Since then he has been operating the urban farm, which specializes in specialty herbs and microgreens. The farm currently grows over 30 varieties of these greens that primarily end up as garnishes on the plates of restaurants along the front range. During this time, he has also partnered with Targeted Aquaponic Growth, a Dallas-based nonprofit, working as a board member and the Director of Aquaponic Operations. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to bring aquaponic systems to developing countries. In 2017, Andy designed and helped construct one of the pilot systems for the organization in the town of Arua, Uganda.
Building a Fruitful Future in Arua, Uganda
The TAG team focused its aquaponics efforts on the town Arua, Uganda in 2017. By setting up a Research Training Center in Arua, TAG completed this groundbreaking project to prove their aquaponics concept, educate the public, and provide food security for local orphanages and schools.
With a fully operational system and staff, the Arua aquaponics project is evidence of Andy & TAG’s mission at work. Collaborating with locals and other passionate humanitarians, this project came to life.
Phase 1
Our very own Andy McArdle was on site in Arua over the course of this project, fulfilling his role as Director of Aquaponics by overseeing the entire process from concept to creation. Andy joined the TAG Team in Arua in August 2017 to design, develop, and construct the system. Andy and the TAG Team sourced the required materials and began the construction process, which included the installation of a solar power system capable of operating two water pumps 24/7.Using the same aquaponics methods and technologies developed over the course of his career, Andy and the TAG team set up an innovative aquaponics system that would stand the test of time.
Phase 2
In December 2017, phase two of the project began. Upon returning to Arua, the TAG team began the process of installation and training, with a newly built greenhouse now protecting them from the shade. Tilapia were collected and stocked into the system to begin the cycling process. From there, the nitrification process began, the appropriate beneficial bacteria colonized, and the system seedlings were planted, beginning the data collection process.
With two dedicated TAG members overseeing the growth and curation of the aquaponics farm, including a local Ugandan with a passion to help his people, valuable data is collected from the system every day. This flourishing project is monitored and maintained daily by these compassionate TAG members, ensuring this innovative system provides fresh food and insight for years to come.