Homestead Education Channel is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.
Microgreens may be the most nutritious superfood you can grow at home. You can grow them indoors or outdoors, in potting soil or compost, even hydroponically; with only water and liquid fertilizer. We’re going to inform you on which greens are the most nutritious, and exactly how to grow, harvest and prepare these greens for adding to your meals.
You may have seen microgreens as a garnish on a plate or a bowl of soup at your favorite restaurant, but did you know that microgreens contain many times the nutritional value of the mature plant? It’s true. Vitamins like E, C, A and Beta Carotene are jam packed into those tiny little leaves.
What are microgreens?
Microgreens are simply the juvenile version of the mature plant. They are grown from seed, the same as other plants. In fact, the timing of harvest is what matters to receiving the highest nutritional value from your homegrown microgreens.
You can sow the seeds of your microgreens right next to where the mature plants will be, either in your garden, or indoors in grow trays, or a hydroponics system. You will simply harvest the microgreens when they grow their second set of leaves. This is usually before you would transfer the sprouting plants either into your garden bed, or into larger pots to grow them to maturity.
How do you use microgreens?
Use microgreens in any dish to give it a nutritional boost. It would take too many plants to make a salad or other dish simply made of microgreens, but as an added ingredient in your recipe, they give added flavor and that super-nutrition they are becoming known for.
Add microgreens to soups and stews. You can use the, to replace lettuces as the greens on sandwiches, and even put them in your smoothies for best results. They may not be the star of the meal, but they have star power when it comes to the vitamins and nutrition they bring to the table.
Which plants have the best microgreens?
The majority of green plants will have higher nutrients than the mature plant. Purple cabbage actually is the highest. When choosing your plants for growing microgreens, lean towards green leafy vegetables and those you know are already nutritious. By harvesting the plants as microgreens, you’re multiplying that good nutrition exponentially. The colored plants such as cabbage, mustard or sunflower, are all good choices.
Can I use herbs as microgreens?
Yes! All of the herbs you would normally grow for use as mature plants can be used for microgreens in your recipes alongside the mature versions of the same plants for extra nutrition. This will enhance any diet, however, vegetarians and vegans will benefit the most from using microgreens in their daily diet to boost nutrition.
Plants that work well as microgreens
You can grow any green leafy vegetable for microgreens.
Here are a few suggestions:
Arugula
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Chia
Mustard
Spinach
Celery
Herbs such as:
Basil
Fennel
Cress
Chives
Dill
Coriander
Parsely
Sorrel
There are many more, but this should give you a good start on setting up a microgreens grow.
Growing Microgreens is easy
Plant your seeds in well-drained soil in trays or pots. Seeds need to be watered daily until they come up. Give the plants at least four hours of sunlight daily by using lights and a timer, or moving them next to a window where they can get sunlight. Check soil moisture daily, and use a spray bottle to mist the plants that are in soil. They should be damp but not soaked.
Once the seeds germinate, check them daily and harvest them when they grow the second pair of leaves. This will take place usually within 2-3 weeks. This is when microgreens are at their peak for nutrition. You can trim the leaves or pull the plant. You can reuse the soil if you pull all the roots from the harvested greens and work the soil before you sow seeds again. You will need to experiment. Most plants will not regrow, but some will continue to grow after you trim the leaves away.
If you want to store your microgreens you can put them in a damp paper towel, folded over, in the refrigerator. As with any freshly harvested vegetable, they will begin to lose their nutritional value the longer they sit. So it’s wise to harvest what you can eat within a few days.
If you’re just starting out as a gardener, microgreens are a great place to begin. As you can see, they’re fairly easy to grow and are ripe to harvest within a very short period of time. It’s a kind of foolproof process that you can use to get into gardening with. Microgreens can be grown in very small places such as a closet with a grow light, or on your deck or patio if you don’t have a garden space. You can also buy one of the available window sill herb gardens like this one on Amazon for about $30. Amazon.com : Herb Grow Kit, 10 Herb Seeds DIY Garden Starter Kit, Complete Potted Plant Growing Set Including White Pots, Markers, Nutritional Soil, Watering, Clipper for Kitchen Herb : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Microgreens on the homestead can be used as another revenue stream or cottage industry if you operate a farmstand, or sell your farm goods at local farmers markets. Local markets and shops are also possibilities for selling your freshly harvested microgreens. You may also contact local restaurateurs about a “farm to table” option with your homegrown greens.
Since you can grow these indoors with a simple grow light and tray set up, it makes sense to always cultivate microgreens, even in the cold weather months. Plant your seeds about 2.5 weeks apart so that you can continually harvest those greens.They made a great addition to just about any recipe and will help give you a boost of good nutrition all year round.
Photos courtesy of Pexels.com
Here at http://homesteadeducationchannel.com/, we are dedicated to helping you find resources, education, and information regarding all aspects of the homesteading lifestyle.
