When a plant is showing its first true leaf, that’s the definition of a microgreen. Microgreens steadily gained popularity since their introduction to the Californian restaurant in the 1980s. These aromatic greens, also known as micro herbs, are rich in flavor and add a welcome splash of color to a variety of dishes. Microgreens contain similar and often greater amounts antioxidants, &nutrients than mature greens. As such, they may similarly reduce the risk of some diseases like heart disease, alzheimers, some cancers, & diabetics.
Microgreens have high levels of:
- Phytonutrients
- Antioxidants
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Enzymes
Despite their small size, they pack a nutritional punch, often containing higher nutrient levels than more mature vegetable greens. Adding them to our diet in this modern era is very important. Let us see how to grow these microgreens in our home & use them in our day to day recipes like stir fry or omlettes.
For video see the link below.
Green Gram Microgreen Recipes:
What are microgreens?
Microgreens are young vegetable greens that are approximately 1–3 inches tall. They come in a wide variety of colors. Microgreens are baby plants, falling somewhere between a sprout and baby green.
Go from seed to harvest in just a few weeks:
Do not confuse yourself with sprouts, which do not have leaves. Sprouts have a much shorter growing cycle of 2–7 days, whereas microgreens are usually harvested 7–21 days after germination, once the plant’s first true leaves have emerged. This makes it a super fast farming concept.
Only stems and leaves are considered edible in microgreens. Microgreens are very convenient to grow, as they can be grown in a variety of locations, including outdoors, in greenhouses and even on your windowsill. Research tells us that the nutrient level in eating microgreens is 9times high when compared to a fully grown plant.
I will tell you in detail what are the seeds used to grow microgreens & how to grow microgreens in our home. We can grow microgreens in the plastic containers left unused in our home or plant pots.
Place, climate or space, nothing matters much in growing microgreens. Today I am going to introduce you some microgreens using the seeds from our kitchen cabinet.
How to grow Microgreens Without Soil
1. Growing Green Gram/Mung Bean
- First take a pot/tray. Here I am going to use the leftover plastic container.
- Seeds of green gram should be soaked in water well overnight before we use them.
- Fill our plastic container with soil/eco coir till 1 to 2inch length.
- Now spray the coir with water. (Do not over water use a sprayer to water the coir)
- Scatter the soaked seeds over the eco coir.
- Level it with your hand or a small piece of cardboard, taking care not to over-compress the soil.
- Cover the seeds with either soil/eco coir i 1inch thickness.
- Do not worry even if your seeds are not covered properly. Water it once again.
- Too much sunlight/direct sunlight is not needed for microgreens germination.
- water alternate days checking the moistness of soil/coir.
- After 7days itself our green gram microgreens are ready to harvest.
2. Growing Mustard Seeds
- First take a pot/tray. Here I am going to use the leftover plastic container.
- Fill in the container using potting mix.(equal parts of coir & soil)
- Now spray the potting mix.
- Scatter mustard seeds & cover it with soil/coir/potting mix.
- Water on alternate days.
- Mustard seeds will grow very fast. It can grow up to 3inches in 7days.
- Lets harvest:)
3.Growing Fenugreek Seeds/ Methi Seeds
When compared to mustard seeds fenugreek seeds does not grow fast. It can take up to 14 days for harvesting.
- First take a pot/tray. Here I am going to use the leftover plastic container.
- Fill in the container using potting mix.(equal parts of coir & soil)
- Now spray the potting mix.
- Scatter fenugreek seeds & cover it with soil/coir/potting mix.
- Water on alternate days.
- Mustard seeds will grow very fast. It can grow up to 3inches in 7days.
- Lets harvest:)
