7 Reasons to Grow Microgreens!
Microgreens are becoming an increasingly popular super food. These young veggie plantlings are packed with nutrients and can be found in most health-conscious restaurants and grocery stores these days. Microgreens are now a topping at lots of pizza restaurants, an add-on at many submarine sandwich shops and on the plates of the most popular health-conscious restaurants.
Microgreens are grown from the seeds of many types of vegetables, often purchased as a mixed variety. Seeds are tiny and most often planted in clumps. These young greens are harvested (cut off) when these small plantlings grow to about 1-3 inches tall, before they begin sprouting.
Common greens used for microgreens include:
- broccoli
- radish
- arugula
- spinach
- swiss chard
- carrot
7 Reasons to Grow Microgreens!
1. Nutritious! Packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants
2. Easy to grow! Grow indoors and outside
3. Inexpensive seeds! Seeds are generally very inexpensive
4. Healthy for Pets! Feed to dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, hermit crabs, koi…
5. Delicious as a pizza topper or add to sandwiches and salads
6. Smart boost to smoothies of healthy vitamins and minerals
7. Adds flavor for cooking soups and sauces
Easiest way to grow Microgreens? Indoors!
In our opinion, the easiest way to grow microgreens is indoors! They are easy to grow both indoors and outdoors but when planting outdoors, make sure to follow the seed instructions. Not all seeds will grow at all times of the year, in all places, in all conditions. Growing outdoors will depend on temperature, hours of sun, type of soil and water.
Growing microgreens indoors is most often the preferred method. Why? They’ll grow easily and quickly sitting on a sunny windowsill! They also grow great under grow lights. And because they are harvested in just 1-3 weeks, it’s easy to grow clumps of microgreens continuously this way. An added advantage to growing microgreens indoors is that you can protect them from being eaten! Animals and insects all love microgreens! If you grow microgreens outdoors you’ll need to watch them closely and take measure to protect them.
Growing microgreens is really quite easy. Because you’re growing these little plantlings to harvest when they are just a couple of inches tall, there’s not enough time for normal plant challenges to kick in! Usually as plants grow, they run into issues with pests or nourishment, over-water, under-watering, too much sunlight or not enough and more. In the case of growing microgreens, as long as you use good soil, give them plenty of sunlight and water them regularly they will grow fast and healthy!
The best way we’ve found to grow microgreens is in small plastic cups. We sprinkle lots of microgreen seeds on top, cover with a very thin layer of soil, place the plastic top on and place under grow lights. In this photo above, you can see our AeroGarden. It’s on our kitchen countertop in a dark corner we otherwise weren’t using. The AeroGarden is amazing for starting seeds indoors, most especially for our tomatoes, peppers, and leafy greens. For microgreens, since we like to grow them in dense clumps, we simply place the plastic cup on the AeroGarden (in between the hydroponic pods).
Organic Seeds
For your health, look for organic microgreen seeds. Organic means the seeds have been kept away from pesticides and more harmful chemicals that other non-organic seeds may have been exposed to. While “certified organic” isn’t a 100% thing these days (what qualifies as “organic” may surprise you) it does significantly lower the chances of adding more chemical GMO stuff to your diet.
We’re all exposed to lots of non-organic foods daily. Why not choose “organic” food seeds when growing yourself! The availability and pricing or organic and heirloom seeds isn’t that much different than the less desirable types of seeds. Choose organic, non-GMO when you can!
