NUTRITION
Grow Your Own Indoor Edible Garden Microgreens are a great addition to any dish and are super easy to grow
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAGGIE WYSOCKI Maggie is an organic gardener based in Winnipeg, MB. She is the founder of the home and garden website, From Soil to Soul and the co-host of The Grow Guide, named Canada’s top-rated gardening podcast. FROMSOILTOSOUL
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ou know that bunch of tiny, fresh greens that comes on top of your avocado toast at a cute breakfast spot? It kind of looks like green confetti? Those are microgreens! They are adorable, look gourmet and are packed full of both flavour and nutrients. And the very best thing about microgreens—they’re easy to grow. Like so easy. Microgreens have been around for a long time, but really had a “glow-up” over the last 10 years. They’ve spiked in popularity with both restaurants and home gardeners. Trendy cafés, upscale spots and even diners have embraced topping savoury and sweet dishes with microgreens. Gardeners, both beginners and long-time growers, have jumped in head first, growing microgreens in creative ways. They are inexpensive to grow (I’ve calculated the cost of growing one tray of microgreens to be only $2), can easily
be grown in any season and don’t require much set-up or supplies to get going. Plus, scientists have found microgreens have incredible health benefits. According to Medical News Today, evidence suggests microgreens have an extremely high antioxidant count, which can help prevent a range of diseases. There’s a lot to love about microgreens, so let’s dive in.
WHAT ARE MICROGREENS? The word “micro” says it all — microgreens are newly germinated seeds that are still in their seedling stage. Microgreens are typically harvested after 12 to 21 days of being seeded. The easiest way to think of microgreens is as a baby vegetable that hasn’t yet developed into its full form. For example, you can grow kale microgreens, which are just the baby stage of what could
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eventually mature into the full vegetable if you let it continue to grow under the proper conditions. Professional gardeners will often refer to microgreens as cotyledons. This is the food source of the plant embryo. Cotyledons are the first leaves the emerge from the soil as a plant germinates.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICROGREENS AND SPROUTS? Though they look similar, sprouts and microgreens actually have several differences. The biggest difference between the two is that sprouts are germinated seeds whereas microgreens have a developed stem and leaves. Another key differentiator is how you grow them. Microgreens are grown using soil, peat moss or vermiculite. The seeds germinate in the medium and grow stems vertically.
