Microgreens let you grow fresh, flavourful greens indoors in winter

Microgreens offer a way to keep growing through the depths of winter by raising small, densely sown leafy crops indoors to provide an unseasonably fresh burst of flavour. Any plant that is edible from top to toe can be grown as a microgreen, the article says, from salad leaves such as lettuce and sorrel to herbs including basil, dill, coriander and fennel.

Brassicas — mustard greens, rocket, broccoli and kale — are suitable, as are nasturtiums and sunflowers, which give juicy, nutty-flavoured shoots, and peas, which produce substantial shoots with pretty leaves and tendrils. The writer adds they are eager to try amaranth, carrot and perilla.

Microgreens are raised in containers sown densely and harvested young. The piece recommends using recycled punnets or seed trays filled about two thirds with compost, tamped down to a firm but not compacted bed, noting the author would be tempted to go deeper for larger seeds such as peas or sunflowers.

Seeds should be spread in a generous single layer and covered with compost no deeper than the seed itself; tiny seeds like amaranth may only need a smattering. Water gently with a can fitted with a fine rose or cover seeds with a wet kitchen towel to germinate. Place trays somewhere bright, such as a windowsill, and wait a couple of weeks for germination; low light is not critical because the crops are harvested before maturity and grow lights are optional.

Key Topics

Culture, Microgreens, Lettuce, Basil, Brassicas, Sunflowers