You don't need lots of land - or even lots of experience - to grow a portion of the food you need. Really, all you need is access to high quality soil, water, sunlight and a few pots.
Today I would like to show you how I approach the microgreens garden.
Come along and take a look at a tiny garden I have been working on for the past three weeks or so.
These are my main allies, two very fast growing microgreens - broccoli and radish greens. These seeds came from Silver Lake Seed Co on Etsy which is based in Washington state, USA.
Starting with quality seeds is helpful but, not totally necessary. I very often buy non-organic seeds sold as condiments like fenugreek and mustard from grocery stores.
Really the key to growing high-quality microgreens is the soil! I am very lucky to have access to compost in this garden and usually fill the pots with a mixture of potting soil (organic, if possible) and compost from the pile. Or just compost, that works too!
After filling the pot I sprinkle on the seeds, be they mustard, broccoli, or something else. Microgreens are to be sprinkled very densely. About a hundred seeds per pot or tray works well. Then I sprinkle a very thin layer of compost on top and water well.
Keeping everything really well watered is key to quick germination. I set the pots in a protected spot with morning sun that is right by the kitchen door so that they cannot be forgotten. Within days these quick growing greens are already sprouting!
The beauty of microgreens is that some can be harvest within 10 to 14 days. I usually thin most of these young sprouts out to use in salads and then let a handful of them grow to maturity.
Above are radish greens that are several months old. At this point they are too tough to eat raw and are great when added to an egg dish like quiche. Most often, however, I am in a hurry to get my fresh greens onto the table and use kitchen scissors to harvest my greens when they are only about two weeks old and look like this:
These greens are perfect to add to salads with lettuce or to lightly wilt with quinoa or rice dishes. They can be added to pesto alongside mature basil leaves too. Really, the possibilities are endless with microgreens! And as they are so cheap and easy to grow I doubt I will be giving them up anytime soon.
