Our Story
Hi, I’m Tsanko.
I built Vital Garden from my kitchen in Sofia.
Not because I’m a farmer. Because I got tired of throwing out wilted basil every Wednesday β and I figured someone else probably was too.
T
Your photo here
portrait or kit lifestyle shot
How it started
A fridge full of reasons to change something
A few years ago I opened my fridge on a regular weekday and looked at what was supposed to be a fresh herb bunch. Three days old. Already soft. Already going to the bin.
That sounds like a small thing. It is a small thing. But I started doing the math: how many of those bunches I’d thrown out over a year. How much I’d spent. How few of them I’d actually used before they turned.
If you live in a Sofia apartment β or any apartment, anywhere β you know the situation. No balcony big enough for proper planters. Winters too long to grow outside. Supermarket greens flown in from somewhere far away, sitting under fluorescent lights, halfway dead before you put them in your basket.
I wanted to fix this for myself. Vital Garden is what came out of it.
π· Kit in use / kitchen photo
Why microgreens, of all things
I'm not a nutritionist. I went where the data went.
40Γ
more vitamins & minerals vs the same plant fully grown
(independent research studies)
The reason is biological: in the first days of growth, a plant concentrates all of its nutrients into those first leaves. You harvest exactly when the density is highest.
They grow in 7β10 days. They need a counter, not a garden. No soil. No sunlight needed if you use the built-in LED. And they taste better than anything I’d been buying at the store. That was enough for me to take it seriously.
What I wanted β and couldn't find
So I compared everything I could find.
β What was out there
- Priced like furniture β β¬150, β¬200, β¬300 for a tray with a light
- Designed like lab equipment. Wires and plastic that belong in a basement
- Disposable pods and subscription costs that quietly add up
- Not shipped to Bulgaria β or β¬40 extra and 3 weeks of waiting
- No real support. Ticket queues, generic replies, auto-responses
β What Vital Garden does instead
- Honest β¬69 price β no inflated “was β¬200” anchors
- Aluminum and food-grade materials. Looks good on a kitchen counter
- Reusable mats. No pods, no proprietary lock-in
- Stocked in Sofia β fast shipping anywhere in Bulgaria
- You email me directly β the person who packed your box
How it was built
I tested it in my kitchen before I sold it in yours.
I won’t pretend I invented the hardware. What I did was spend months finding the right manufacturing partner β one with 14+ years making LED grow systems, food-grade materials, and the certifications I cared about. I ordered samples. I grew radish, broccoli, sunflower, mustard, peas. I broke things deliberately to see how the kit handled it. When I was satisfied, I placed the first order.
14+ Year Supplier
Verified manufacturing partner with ISO 9001 and full production traceability.
Food-Grade Materials
Aluminum, iron, and food-safe PC plastic. Nothing near your food that isn’t safe.
CE Certified
Full CE marking (EMC + RoHS + LVD). Legal for Bulgaria and the EU. Not a grey import.
Packed in Sofia
Every kit is checked and shipped by me personally. If something’s wrong, I know fast.
What you can expect from me
Three things I take seriously.
1
A real person on the other end
If something goes wrong, you email me directly β not a ticket queue. The same person who packed your box will sort it out.
2
Built to last, not to replace
Reusable mats. No proprietary pods. The LED is rated for thousands of hours. If anything fails in the first two years, I replace it.
3
Honest pricing, always
You won’t see “Was β¬199 β Now β¬69!” on this site. The price is what the kit is worth. That’s it.
Why this matters to me
We remember what fresh actually means.
Most of us in Bulgaria grew up with a grandmother who had a garden. Tomatoes you could smell before you saw them. Greens picked the morning you ate them. Food that came from someone you knew.
That’s not most people’s daily life anymore. We live in apartments. We work long hours. We buy our greens in plastic bags from a refrigerated shelf, and we feel mildly guilty about it because, somewhere underneath, we remember what fresh actually means.
Vital Garden won’t replace a grandmother’s garden. Nothing will. But it puts something living back on your kitchen counter β something you tend to, watch grow, and harvest with your own hands.
Small things, repeated daily, are how anything actually changes.
That’s why I built it. I hope it earns a place in your kitchen too.
Π’
Tsanko Andreev
Founder, Vital Garden Β· Sofia, Bulgaria
Founder, Vital Garden Β· Sofia, Bulgaria
Ready to grow your own?
Fresh microgreens in 7 days β no soil, no experience needed.
Free shipping in Bulgaria. 14-day return. 2-year warranty.
