My class on microgreens is the largest of the Winter with 25 clients. They all seem excited about shaking off the Winter chill and getting their hands into the soil. “Though it seems early, we are just a bit more than a month from the equinox,” I start out. “So if you have a south facing window, there will be plenty of light for your greens to grow well.”
“And what if I don’t have a window that faces South?” asks Lucy, one of my clients.“Then your plants may become a bit leggy,” I reply showing them a sample of a tall, thin green I started three weeks prior as an example of what you don’t want to see.
Microgreens are a great thing to grow as they give you an edible, incredibly healthy crop within a couple of weeks and if provided with the right seeds is dead easy to grow. I have done that for my clients starting them with arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp sativa), mesclun, snap peas (Pisum sativum), and radishes (Raphanus sativus). Though I give each client a starting tray, I tell them that the plastic clamshell containers that hold many a green is an ideal starting container as its lid can help maintain the humidity, helping early germination.
“When can we start eating them?” asks one of my hungrier clients. “It depends,” I reply. “If you want just microgreens, you can start nibbling away in a few weeks. But if you hold back your inner rabbit and wait for real leaves to form, then you can get multiple harvests.” I then tell clients about the differences between the first leaves of germination (cotyledons) and subsequent real ones.
After more questions, we start the exercise by moistening the soil and seeding the different sections of each tray. “You gave us more seeds than we need,” says Lisa. “That’s true. when you are done harvesting this batch you can reseed and get another,” I say. I see smiles on the Zoom screen and we get back to planting.
