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13 Comments

  1. The mold problem can be solved easily. Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is highly effective at killing mold without harming plants or humans. One can make a 1:1000 dilute solution of GSE in water (3-4 drops per cup of water) and spray produce, and the produce will not mold. For example, I soak blueberries in a dilute solution and then they will store in fridge for weeks without degradation. Fresh tomatoes likewise, they do not rot as fast.
    GSE is harmless to humans too. It is also a deworming substance for animals (diluted, in water) as it kills worms. It was first discovered when a biologist found his compost heap would not work if it had grapefruit seeds in it, as they killed fungi.

    1. Bert, thank you! This is great information.
      Wondering if this would work on house plants too? All of mine seem to have a nasty mold problem on the top of the soil. It’s either that or our water has so many minerals in it that it’s like a white layer on top of the soil. Plants seem to grow well but that white powdery stuff drives me crazy. I will try this.

      Have a Rockin great day!

      1. I’ve used the Nutribiotic brand of GSE for 15 years and it’s always been effective. In tests I sprayed dilute solution on mold growths and watched them dissolve / die in a few minutes. I believe it will work just fine for the appearance of mold on soil but will not damage roots underneath.

  2. Thank you, DG! An outstanding third installment to your article.

    From your post: “The first time we had the mustard greens we put them on corned beef sandwiches with mayonnaise, pickles, and my wife’s homemade bread. We loved it so much that we now coordinate our sandwiches around out mustard harvests.”

    What a wonderful idea! Just loved it. One of my favorite things about microgreens is that the flavor flows so nicely through the greens, and little if any additional “dressing” is needed. Adding the mustard to the sandwich with a little mayo, some homemade pickles and fresh baked bread… Well, it just doesn’t get much better than this!

  3. Hi D.G., excellent series, thanks for posting. I’d never heard of the concept before but will definitely be giving this a try.

    As I thought about what seeds I already have a lot of, I began to wonder which of them I could sprout for microgreens and discovered some very long lists on various websites including the ones you mentioned. I have lots of lambsquarter, amaranthus, squash, marigolds, and cleome flower (beeplant) seeds. All these are usable for microgreens and cleome has other edible parts as well. You mentioned carrots and the most prolific weed in my area is Queen Anne’s lace, which is the same genus and species as carrot (Daucus carota), so I’m anxious to try that one. There are entire fields of it in my area so it would be easy to collect pounds of seed. I have several pounds of lambsquarter seed from a very large variety I selected and propagated, but can’t eat too much due to the high oxalate content. They don’t soften up very much when cooked with rice so microgreens sound like just the ticket to finally use all that seed. Since the younger plants have fewer oxalates, who knows, maybe the microgreens have little to none. I’ll definitely research that further. I also have a grain amaranth the just gets mushy when cooked with rice so that too makes a good microgreen and is easy to produce lots of seed in the garden.

    This article lists many by genera by family: https://grocycle.com/types-of-microgreens/

    The microveggy.com link you provided is also a great list.

    Thanks again for the article, this is going to be a whole new adventure of discovery.

  4. D.G

    Wonderful article! Definitely going to give this a try. Thank you for the step by step and especially the photos. I am a visual learner so this is perfect!

    Have a Rockin great day!

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