Microgreens
Microgreens have seen a massive spike in popularity recently because of how nutritious they are (superfoods), and their potential for being a side hustle (selling them to local restaurants). Microgreens are vegetables or herbs that have sprouted their first true set of leaves, that’s it! In this article, we are going to talk more about what they are, how to grow them, if they’re healthy, and how to implement them into your diet.
Are microgreens the same as sprouts?
Wikipedia defines sprouts as germinated or partially germinated seeds. A sprout consists of the seed, root, and stem, whereas microgreens are grown from sprouts and take a few weeks to reach harvest readiness. One of the easiest ways to tell the two apart is the presence of leaves, which exist only on microgreens and not sprouts.
Are microgreens healthy?
Microgreens have similar nutrient contents compared to their adult versions and can be grown in just a fraction of the time. In addition, there are suggestions that microgreens contain up to 10% MORE micronutrients including, iron, manganese, zinc, and more. These increased nutrient levels are only further put on display when it comes to antioxidant levels which in some instances were noted at having up to 40 times more than their fully grown versions.
Of course, there are many unique microgreens, which all offer differing levels of nutrients but more often times than not most of these greens contain healthy amounts of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Bonus Fact: Because they are grown in a fraction of the time they naturally use just a fraction of the water which research has suggested makes a positive impact on the environment, and uses far fewer pesticides if any to grow!
How to grow your own microgreens!
Microgreens are really easy and cheap to grow and even if you opt to spend a little money on scaling up your operation you’ll make youre it back on how much you save not buying or purchasing fewer greens at the grocery store.
- You need a flat container, reusing a plastic strawberry container can also work.
- Select your seeds, and evenly spread them across your soil or peat moss, you don’t need to worry about spacing because they don’t need much space!
- Cover with soil and then use a spray bottle to put some water on top making sure the entire surface is moist.
- This is where you make your first real choice if you want to spend $ or not, either way, it won’t cost much for the equipment. Put your container with your now covered seeds in a location with direct or partial sunlight. If you don’t have great lighting access then you can purchase a grow light.
- If your container has a lid you can keep that closed to create a humidity dome, but not TOO much because you don’t want to promote mold. If it doesn’t then you want to do little mists a few times a day or whenever it starts to dry out making sure it always has a pretty consistent moistness in the soil.
- Depending on the greens you selected you should only have to wait 1-2 weeks then harvest!
- Make sure you cut the greens at the soil level and wash them before storing or using them.
Start including microgreens in your diet ASAP
Go to Meta Nutrition and look up some recipes that include microgreens! They can be eaten fresh or used as a garnish, included in smoothies or sandwiches so pick your poison, just get those puppies in your body, and you won’t regret it.