Seed Truck Take-Away Salads - how to

SEED TRUCK TAKE-AWAY SALAD This is fast food gardening - just add water and your salad of microgreens will be ready in two weeks!

What you need: • Your compostable Seed Truck take-away salad box • A square of membrane (helps to keep the card box in one piece) • Your seeds (This time we are sowing Catalogna Rossa Lettuce, Sweet Genovese Basil, Red Giant Mustard and Norli Peas – you can choose which you want) • A Seed Truck Label (so you know what you sowed. Or write your own) METHOD 1. Cut a square of membrane and place it in the bottom of your box 2. Fill your box about 25cm deep (almost to the top of your box) with seed compost.

3. Scatter the seeds so that they are about 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart (4 to 8mm), and cover with 1/8 inch (half a centimeter) of soil.

4. Place your box in a spot where it will get at least 4 hours of sunlight. A south-facing window is best, but an eastern or western-facing one will do as well. Water gently but thoroughly.

5. As they begin to sprout, keep them watered (not too dry, not soaking wet) HARVESTING YOUR MICROGREENS The best time to harvest microgreens is when they've developed their first set of true leaves (the first ones are seed leaves, and don't look anything like the actual leaves of the plant) - generally about ten days to two weeks after sowing. To harvest, simply snip the microgreens just above soil level.

You can only harvest them once, as you snip them off too early for them to have a chance to regrow. However, you could leave a few plants, for example the Catalogna Rossa Lettuce, to grow bigger, as this is a ‘cut and come again’ variety. Or, once you have harvested everything, you could go back to step 3 and sow some more seeds in the same box!

As you can see, microgreens are simple to grow, and provide you with a quick harvest for not much work. You can add them to salads, sandwiches, or stir-fries, and it's much cheaper to grow your own than it is to buy them.

For more info and links, go to fifediet.co.uk/seedtruck/resources