If you are relatively new to these plants don't be alarmed. You just stumbled upon the mystery plant; you could literally say you stumbled upon vegetable gold.
Microgreens as the name implies are small miniscule plants. They are the much, much, much smaller version of their fully grown counterparts. As the fully grow vegetable would take weeks or months to grow, microgreens take about a 10 days for them to grow from plantation to harvest.
So ok yeah you kind of know about them, but I bet you are still asking, 'what is so darn special about them'? Well microgreens date back, I mean a little way back. They were used initially by chefs in fine dining restaurants the drastically enhance the flavor of the food that they prepared. If you have given yourself the pleasure to wine and dine like royalty, you would have probably noticed on some servings of food; probably a salad or a slab of salmon you would have noticed these really small colorful looking plants. Five times out of ten I'm pretty sure that you did not give them the time of the day by brushing them to the side and eating the food that is usually impossible to pronounce.
Microgreens despite averaging a height of 3 to 8 cm, they are jam packed with nutrients. Tones of nutrients. They have been deeply studied in the health and nutritional sector and one thing that constantly comes up is that they have higher nutritional value that their fully grown counterparts. Around four times more. They contain much higher levels of vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K and vitamin E. They also tend to be high in mineral content; potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and copper.
If you are considering changing your life to the more healthy side this is a safe place to start. With their vibrant colors and their wide range of flavors they truly are a marvel.
So let me just say that you are now full throttle onto the whole health enchilada.
Where could you buy them?
Your nearest farmers market should have them, or the closest health market or health supermarket should store them too. Or you could just grow them, it won't take you a lot of time and it isn't a nasty muddy process. You could grow them from your home. It's pretty easy.
Here are the plants that i personally recommend, you try growing:
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Watercress
• Radish
• Arugula
• Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Carrot
• Celery
• Garlic
• Onion
• Beet
• Spinach
• Squash
For a startup you are going to need:
Light (it could be from the sun which is probably the best, or you could go ahead and use a light source, the brighter the better but that doesn't mean you need a light bulb that is going to quadruple your electricity bill. A regular horizontal light bulb should do the trick).
A container in which you are going to grow your microgreens.
You don't need to buy a dedicated container you could go right ahead and use a take-out packet. Who said McDonald's isn'talthy after all.
A lid or a wide piece of aluminum foil.
1 spray bottle.
A pair of scissors.
Growers Tips
Ensure that the growing tray you're going to use has holes at the bottom that make it easier for excess water to drain and for the soil to be aerated. This isn't optional it is mandatory.
You have the grand option of using sunlight vs an electric bulb. We advise that you use an electric bulb because your crop will grow all the time and will grow straight up. This is compared to the sun the shines for several hours and day and if you grow your plants by the window the will probably grow in a bend fashion.
Each time you water your little green delicacies make sure that you moisten them, do no drown them in water. This isn't good for the ideal growth of the plants.
If you live in colder areas we strongly advise against growing your plants in the garage especially if your garage is freezing cold. If you are so keen on growing them in the garage you could place heating mats under the growing beds but this might prove to be a little expensive in our opinion.
Ensure that as you plant your seeds you are generous with them. When they grow you would like to get a dense 'bush' of shoots and not plants that are far apart.
Do not growing them in a garden.
Well if you have a garden we really don't recommend growing these plants there for a bunch of reasons; 1. Your garden could have insects and bugs crawling over your tasty plants, and you could barely regulate them. 2. If it rained the seeds might not only be dispersed, but they could be washed away all together.
If you have a greenhouse it is a good idea to grow microgreens in it but we honestly do not recommend building a dedicated green house for them.
If you are interested and would like to read more information about MicroGreeens, step by step guide for beginners and recipes go to https://allneedoff.com/microgr...
