Indoor container gardening

[maskedsonnet]

Finally got the seeds in to start my new greens project! I read Peter Burke's book on year-round indoor salad gardening and figured I'd give it a shot! It's pretty much just growing microgreens from what I can tell, though he insists in the book that it's different. I've never actually grown microgreens so I really couldn't say what the difference is. The method is:

• Soak seeds for at least 6 hours, no more than 24 hours
  

• Fill a tray with potting soil and nutrients (he suggests compost and sea kelp, I'm just using AG nutrients, about 1ML)
• Drain the seeds and spread them over the potting mix

• Place a soaked paper towel over the seeds and put the tray in a warm, dark place for at least 4 days

• Remove cover, water the roots, and place the tray on a windowsill
• Water once a day until greens are ready to harvest, 4-6 more days
• Harvest by cutting with scissors or a knife

I'm really looking forward to seeing if this works well! The seed mixes I'm using:
Rainbow Heirloom Superfoods mix (broccoli, purple kohlrabi, radish, collard, and turnip)
Rainbow Heirloom Spicy Greens mix (arugula, cress, radish, turnip, and mustard greens)
Rainbow Heirloom Asian Greens mix (mizuna, pak choi, tender green, daikon, michihili cabbage)
I mixed in black oil sunflower seeds with these as well, since it's mentioned in the book that they make very tasty greens.

[Sher]

I am interested in seeing how it goes anc how you like them.

[maskedsonnet]

Container plants are still mostly going strong! The zucchini have gotten bigger



The cucumber has looked terrible lately, but the eggplant has rebounded very nicely, it's even putting on a couple blooms!



The lemon balm and pequins have gone wild in their corner, spring need to hurry up!!!

[Sher]

Very impressive! Especially the lemon balm and pequins!

[Shawn]

You sure have a green thumb.  Very nice

[maskedsonnet]

This morning while running errands I bought some almost-too-big containers, and when I got home transplanted the zucchini plants and eggplant, and got rid of the tomatoes and cucumber plants (which all looked close to death).



Next up on the to-do list is transplanting the Kratky herbs!

[Sher]

You are industrious!

Hoping all the Kratky transplants love their new homes!

[maskedsonnet]

First group of greens came out of their 4 days of darkness today. The growth was considerably thicker than I thought it'd be! It's supposed to sit in the sunlight (or in this case under grow lights) for another 4 days. Looking forward to seeing what they do!!

[Shawn]

That was fast.

[maskedsonnet]

That was the biggest appeal when I read about this method! In about a week, you can have enough micro greens for salad. Seems like it may actually happen, I really had my doubts but thought it’d be a fun experiment anyways

[Sher]

I'm looking forward to your taste reviews!

[Shawn]

I have seen these and heard micros are good but I can not bring myself to try them.

[maskedsonnet]

They greened up a LOT after being taken out of the closet!!



I've never eaten microgreens either, but I'm willing to try just about anything (I draw the line at bugs, which a friend tried to talk me into when we went over seas together a few years back. Ick!!!). 

I will refrain from telling you about my bug eating adventures.

[campingcorgis]

Mar 3, 2021 10:55:27 GMT -5 maskedsonnet said:

<<They greened up a LOT after being taken out of the closet!!>>

<<I've never eaten microgreens either, but I'm willing to try just about anything (I draw the line at bugs, which a friend tried to talk me into when we went over seas together a few years back. Ick!!!).>>

Hubby is growing microgreens too.  He started them last week and I quickly figured out that he's going to need a good light, as he is growing them upstairs in the bonus room.  It is naturally warmer up there.  He is using a hydroponic setup.  I ordered him the AG light, but thru Amazon as they ship quick.  He put the greens under the light yesterday.  Today, I went up to check them and they are very green!  He says they need to be about 6 inches tall before harvest.  They aren't as dense as I thought they would be.  His are Wheatgrass.  It is pretty cool.  Yours look great!

[maskedsonnet]

Today was the earliest recommended harvest day for the first batch of sprouts, so Taste Test Time!! This is what I'm calling the mega mix, in which I mixed together the Superfoods (broccoli, purple kohlrabi, radish, collard, and turnip) and Spicy Greens (arugula, cress, radish, turnip, and mustard greens) seed mixes, along with some sunflower seeds. There's really too much going on here, flavor-wise, but it was still very tasty. I also vastly underestimated how much would be produced in one of these little loaf pans, the cuttings from one was more than enough for me, and I did three pans per batch. Texture-wise it's like eating a bunch of string, which is fortunately not a texture I'm squeamish about. Had it with a bit of ranch and parmesan, and it was a very refreshing after-work snack! But next time I'm not going to mix the mixes lol, make it a little easier to taste what's going on here beyond a confused *GREENS?!* taste. I definitely taste the kohlrabi and the radish, but that's about all that's standing out here. I also picked out a sunflower sprout to taste by itself, since it's the one green in the mix I've never eaten, and it had a very mild flavor that I enjoyed and was completely overpowered in this mix. Overall I'm satisfied with the project so far, and look forward to tasting the other mixes!

[campingcorgis]

There used to be...or maybe there still is...a chain of restaurants in So. Cal. called, Good Earth.  There was one in Westwood Village and we could walk to it for lunch, when I worked in the Village.  They had a sandwich that I loved.  It was called the "Baked Cheese Sandwich."  It was open faced, on a sprouted wheat bread, topped with cheese (cheddar, maybe?  Long time ago), then tomato slice, mushroom slices, baked and then topped with fresh sprouts.  It was a real treat.  Some folks I know removed the sprouts, but they were very good!  Hint, hint...

It looks great!  I would eat them, anytime!

[maskedsonnet]

Ooh, that does sound yummy!! I love a good cheese sandwich, and I bet the sprouts would be good on just about any type of sandwich! p:

[Sher]

I grew micro greens once. Like you, I grew too many kinds --radish, broccoli and mustard--and they were overwhelming in a mix. I was surprised at how spicy the flavors were.

I did not grow sunflower. I bet I would have liked thrm.

[maskedsonnet]

The zucchini plants and eggplant all seem to like the new containers much better!! Lots more room for their roots. And one of the pot-a-penos has blooms on it!!!