Grow your own Grocery Greens

I've written a couple of blogs about growing micro-greens indoors. It's a rewarding seeding experience for the run up to the outdoor planting season. 

The topic deserves a repeat, mainly because if I can do this successfully, then anyone can. This winter I've expanded the palette with lettuce seeds. I can't believe it took so long to try growing lettuce under lights, it's as easy as opening a seed packet.

First, the what-how-where -

Micro-greens are the first teeny, tiny seedlings of plants that are usually seeded outside and harvested when fully grown. They include lettuce, broccoli, basil, sunflowers, peas and seed mixes of cress, chard, mustard and many more. 

You can purchase specific micro-green labeled seeds from garden centers and online or use left over seeds from your cache. One caution - parsnip seeds used for micro-greens are poisonous so use them only for outside seeding and grow until they mature.

The taste of these little micro guys is so delish and fresh. In the blink of an eye, okay, mere days - they are ready for eating.

Use them on soup, pasta, sandwiches, eggs, vegetable and main dishes. Tossing them on your morning oatmeal might be a stretch, but not in the juicer.

The seeding how to takes about ten minutes, maybe less. 

• Clean and rinse an empty plastic lettuce container (or any low container), poke some holes in the bottom if there aren't any drainage areas. 
• My new go to for a mass of micro greens is to grow them in recyclable large aluminum pans you buy at holidays when you need more pans or when you want to make a lasagna for a potluck or sick friend and leave it there.
• Aluminum pans are inexpensive, cheaper than seed trays in most cases. Just use a Phillip's head screw driver or nail to poke holes in the bottom. Bonus, they are sold with their own plastic cover which works great as a dome over the tray until the seeds are up and moved under grow lights. 
  
• Fill 3/4s with moistened sterile seed starting or a very light weight potting soil (not outside garden soil).  
• Heavily sprinkle micro-green seeds or left over seeds over the soil, then add a very light layer of soil over the seeds. 
• Water the seeded area well using a sprinkler type head instead of a regular pour type nozzle which can move the seeds and soil around too much.     
                    
  
  

 

Place the tray with the plastic container over the pan near or under grow lights, the seeds will emerge either way. 

• Use a heat seed mat if you wish, they will hasten seed emergence. Once the seeds are up (usually in 2-4 days), promptly remove the plastic cover and place near a very sunny window or under grow lights. 
• Water when the soil looks slightly dry, usually every day for me - they can dry out quickly, keep any eye on them. 
• In about seven to ten days you'll be harvesting fresh little micro-bursts of whatever seed you planted. 
• To harvest, just cut a handful of greens right above the soil line, you don't even need to rinse them unless some soil is holding on.
• I continue harvesting the batch until they are pretty spent (you'll know), the lettuce will provide several harvests and grow back quickly.
  

Three plastic containers of basil micro-greens staggered seeding. I used the plastic lid from an old seed tray for the larger basil seeding, works great too.

Close up of the basil micro greens and lettuce to the right

Time to cut the taller lettuce ... with tonight's lasagna!
 

Plan on seeding several batches and stagger them over the winter. Once harvested you can re-use the soil a few times (I do), unless gnats appear or disease is suspected. BTW, I continue growing basil as micro-greens outdoors in Smart Pot® containers, I seed in late May or June when temps are much warmer since basil doesn't like cold days and nights.