Growing Micro Greens

Now that the cold of winter is starting to settle in let me share a tip on how to keep the fresh greens on the table today on Southern Gardening.

An easy way garden through the winter is to grow an indoor microgreens garden. Microgreens are nutritious and a delicious way to brighten any winter mood. Arugula, Asian greens bok choi or kinkoh, or spicy mesclun mix are good easy to grow choices. Purple kohlrabi, red cabbage and red beets make colorful additions to any meal.

Microgreens are sometimes called vegetable confetti and can be used as a decorative addition to dinner. Or when blended together, they can be a colorful salad. Growing microgreens is easy and only requires a small space on a window sill, or under a light.

And any size container will do. Bedding plant trays of repurposed plastic clam shells are good growing containers. Sprinkle seeds of your favorite greens on the surface of moistened growing mix. Gently tamp and cover. After a couple of days, the seeds will be germinating. After seven days the greens will be ready to start harvesting. Sowing seeds weekly can ensure a steady supply of microgreens.

And some of the latest research shows that microgreens actually have more vitamins and nutrients than their fully mature plants. for example, microgreen red cabbage has six times the vitamin C and 40 times vitamin E than mature red cabbage. Other microgreens have more vitamin K, lutein, and beta carotene.

So keep the garden growing indoors all winter long with these fresh microgreens. You’ll be sure to enjoy fresh tasty salads on a cold wintery day.  I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.