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(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)

Microgreens That I Have Grown

What follows are descriptions of some of the greens I have grown so far with a few observations I’ve made along the way. If you are planting trays several times a week, you’ll have overlapping harvest periods, and this gives you flexibility in terms of the different combinations you can make at dinner time.

Basil

Basil grows more slowly, at least initially, but is well worth the wait. I sowed a couple 1020 trays more sparsely than I would normally, and let them grow for a full month. They went well beyond the microgreen stage and put on two to three sets of ‘true’ leaves (see Figure 15). I remain impressed that they were able to thrive for so long in only about ¾ inch of soil. We harvested both trays at once, and my wife made more than a quart of pesto from the foliage. That’s a real treasure if you can’t get to a grocery store.

Black Oil Sunflower

Sunflower could have been a contender for our favorite but, so far, we haven’t had any good seed. Both trays I grew had to be thrown out due to mold. The germination rate was abysmal. But my curiosity wouldn’t let me give up right away. I beat the mold back with a spayed mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water, then allowed the couple dozen plants which germinated to reach the harvest stage. They are robust in terms of size with thick stems and thick, waxy leaves, and the flavor is nutty and very similar to the flavor of sunflower seeds.

Reading reviews online from several sunflower seed vendors I noticed that there were several negative reviews for sunflowers in the spring of this year and, knowing that most Black Oil Sunflower comes from Italy, my guess is that there was a bubble somewhere in the supply line. It’s likely that huge quantities of this seed had to sit somewhere in suboptimal environmental conditions for much longer than normal, and that this led to the mold.

Like me, you may be tempted to purchase the Black Oil seeds sold as bird feed. Proceed with caution. The seed may be treated to prevent sprouting.Continue reading“The Secret Salad Garden – Part 3, by D.G.”

(Continued from Part 1.)

Gear and Materials:

Soil

The first trays I grew using ordinary Central Texas yard dirt and the results were good. But dirt from outdoors can introduce mold, gnats, and other insects, so I have been using potting soil ever since. Professional growers will use various mixtures which might include perlite, vermiculite, compost, or coconut coir. Some grow hydroponically. Some add fertilizers and nutrients. It’s very likely that, by following their recommendations, or through experimentation, I might increase yield or see other benefits. But I’m satisfied with the results I’m seeing for now, and I suspect in any case that, during the short period between germination and harvest, the grow medium doesn’t matter too much, and that, apart from water, warmth, and light, most of what the plant needs is in the seed.

Trays

Special trays are absolutely unnecessary. Had I read Burke’s book in time I would not have initially purchased any 1020 trays. Burke uses tin foil baking pans and a variety of bowls. Really, any fairly shallow dish will work, in a height range of one to three inches (see Figures 7 and 8). I chose the 1020 shallow trays for two reasons. It is easier to get in close to the soil to harvest with scissors or a knife if you don’t have a tall rim in the way of your hand and, secondly, a high rim impedes airflow and this can foster mold.

I was concerned initially that with a shallow tray I wouldn’t have sufficient soil depth to sustain some of the plants that have a longer time until harvest, but this concern passed after I grew a couple trays of basil to a height of 4-5 inches over a four week period in only about ¾ inch of soil. And regarding drainage holes, the trays I use have none. I was concerned about this, too. Many growers, particularly the pros, prefer the trays with holes because they like to water with a technique called ‘bottom watering,’ i.e., setting the planted tray, with holes, into another tray, with water, and allowing the water to soak up into the root system from the underside.

One important advantage of this is that it prevents the development of mold. Microgreens tend to be grown densely, especially by the pros, who aim to maximize profit. Moisture is easily trapped under the ‘canopy’ when watering is done top-down. But I’ve been careful with how I water, as will be described later, and this has only rarely been a problem.

But I don’t regret the 1020’s I bought at all. I spent a little extra and got the heavy-duty variety. Barring their ad hoc use as tennis rackets I don’t expect they’ll ever crack, particularly as they are not spending any time out under our brutal Texas sun.Continue reading“The Secret Salad Garden – Part 2, by D.G.”

Introduction

In the spring of 2020, it became apparent that the coronavirus posed a potential threat to public safety. The severity of the threat was unclear, so my wife and I, being reasonably well-prepared, decided that our family would ‘batten down the hatches’ until we could better assess the situation. Like many people, we learned a lot. We learned how prepared we were, and we learned how prepared we were not. We had never made a trial assessment of our ability to adapt to a situation like this, so it was an eye-opening opportunity to learn and improve. One of the biggest challenges for us was no longer regularly bringing home fresh produce. That lack prompted me to take the steps to learn how to grow microgreens, the immature seedlings of herbs and vegetables, and I’m writing this to share with you what I’ve learned.

If you frequent this web site, you will likely already have mentally played through a variety of scenarios wherein you might be unable or unwilling to leave your home. Or you might be unable to get anything from grocery stores or restaurants. Or you might have to wait months before you can start a garden, and then months more while you wait until harvest. But if you learn the techniques I describe below, you would be able to keep putting fresh produce on your table under such circumstances. Mere minutes after harvest, you can have some of the freshest, most visually appealing and nutritious produce you’ve ever had. The flavors of radish, mustard, sunflower, arugula, basil, all these and more may be easily had with only a little preparation and practice.

From seed to table in as little as a week, and all possible without setting foot outside your home. Learning to grow microgreens indoors may be one of the simplest and most enjoyable of the many things you do to provide for yourself and your family. The abundance of information about microgreens online was daunting but, once I had it pared down to the essentials, I was floored by how simple it was. My first crop was a hands-down success, and little has gone awry in the many times since that I have repeated the process. And the sheer quantity of produce we harvest for so little effort and expense is striking, particularly given the fact that microgreens originated in the realm of high-end restaurant cuisine. Continue reading“The Secret Salad Garden – Part 1, by D.G.”