A Microgreens Adventure - Day 1
Microgreens have been in the back of my mind for about a year now. I first discovered this interesting niche last year when watching videos on YouTube and it struck me as an amazingly simple way to make food in a small space. At the time I wanted to give it a go but, as with many things in life, I never got around to starting.
Then, last week, I watched the video I've posted at the end of this article and became re-inspired. If you have an hour to spare, I HIGHLY recommend the video if you're interested in starting out with microgreens. Winter is also coming - a time when growing crops outside slows to a halt so it seems the perfect time to start. And, with a couple of foodie friends who move in the right circles to spread the word about a microgreen enterprise, so it seems too good an opportunity to miss.
Setting Up
I already have a small growlight system; a £9 shelving unit from IKEA and some red/blue LED strip lights that cost £13 each. I haven't really put it to good use yet, though I did try some cuttings earlier on the year - not to a huge amount of luck I must say. I'm not yet convinced whether the red/blue will work as well as white but that's why this is all an experiment.
Then I bought some food grade HDPE trays from a catering firm (again, very cheap - £2 each from a catering firm), filled with an inch of water and coconut coir (£15 hanging basket liner from eBay) is used as the growing medium - no soil here!
Seeds
I opted to buy five seed varieties in small quantities so I could test things out; sunflower, radish, basil, amaranthe and kol rabi. Many of the popular seed catalogues in the UK are starting to stock microgreen seeds BUT they're expensive. Better to opt for a wholesaler if you want better prices. I opted for CN Seeds - good quality seeds that are untreated (I don't want any chemicals used) and were very reasonably prices. My entire batch of seeds cost £15 and will provide enough for several growing attempts.
For the first round I'm trying the sunflowers, radish and amaranthe. I have NO idea about spacing on the coir - I suspect it should be fairly packed. After all, these are microgreens not fully developed plants.
Germination
So after simply laying the seeds out across the damp coir, the trays get covered to stimulate germination. The trays are stackable and I'd been intended on doing just that. However, being white plastic it means it's semi transparent, so I've covered in cardboard instead.
And there's the experiment. I honestly have no idea what to expect and what I'm doing, but that's the fun of gardening, right?! So I'm excited to the seeds sprout and see where this adventure leads. I'll update when there's signs of green!
I never thought of using the coconut fiber in place of soil. That's a great idea to keep the microgreens clean! I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for another great post and the inspiration you provide to me!
I hadn't either, but the farm owner in the video above was saying he wanted to be able to take living microgreens directly into restaurant kitchens...and you couldn't do that if there was soil. So he came up with this solution and it works great.
they sell blocks of coconut fibre in ikea too, i bought some to make a mini eco system in a jar with my son last year but never got around to doing it! I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with this. I grow veggies in pots every year as I already have limited space, so have to get creative lol good luck!
Thanks! I've not seen those fibres - I'll look next time I'm in. :D
Very cool. Tiensvold Farm is a great source for sunflower, pea, and radish seed, but I'm not sure if they ship to the UK. I would definitely give pea shoots a try. They're pretty hardy and they give a good yield. Also I've found that if you keep some weight on top of the suns and peas until they're a couple inches tall you'll get a thicker stem and an overall more uniform, more robust final product.
Excellent tip, thank you! I'll look up Tiensvold; happy to try various seed companies until I find one I like so if they ship here, I'll give them a go. :D
I am looking forward to your follow up post. Even though we can grow year around here, micro greens a so nutritious that it is fun to have them as well - expensive to buy.
Here, a lot of people are doing this, so, it is not a great business idea, but a good money saver....
If you are into podcasts, here is a link to my friend's podcast. He has a bunch with different people on the subject.
If you are thinking business - I highly recommend to listen to them :)
http://www.permaculturevoices.com/10-base-principles-for-successfully-growing-high-quality-microgreens-fsfs89/
Thanks for the link Marianne, I'll definitely give that a listen. I think the trend is yet to come to the UK so maybe I'll a little ahead of the curve here? hope so! I still think it's a good business idea with you too; these farms can only supply so much of a zipcode so more growers, more opportunities. :D
If you are seriously thinking of starting this as a business, there are several episodes where Diego talks to people about their set up, what they learned and all of that. He also did a whole series with Curtis Stone from Canada who made himself a name by teaching people to farm front yards and make a good living.
Keep us posted of your progress :)
I love Curtis Stone - I watch all his stuff. He got me into market gardening initially and sparked my ideas for selling veggies at my farm gate. :D
Cool. I have met him several times when he was in San Diego. Then you really will enjoy the podcast. Diego and Curtis did a series where they went over his workdays week by week. So, you get a really good insight in all the steps and planning.
Curtis has quite a micro greens operation going as well. You will do well!!!
I've been a keen grower of micro-greens for nearly a year now.
I started last winter to fill the gaps in harvest from the garden, but have continued since to add variety.
Aha...now I have someone to bug about all my growing issues when they occur. ;) I'm looking forward to learning all about this. It seems like a no-brainer in terms of small space gardening for highly nutritious food.
Nice post. More people should do this. However, I think no water should be standing in the system, since it breeds anaerobic pathogenic bacteria. Good luck, hope it all turns out bounty and healthy! Soon I will be making a small solar-passive greenhouse for transplants and microgreens. If you're interested, hit up my follow button... I always follow back thank you! :)
As a general rule, the larger the seed = the more volume you must plant, and the closer they can be placed.
Sunflowers like a bit of pre-soaking, and be sure to keep air circulation pretty high lest you get the DREADED MOLD!
~ Kevin
Thanks @halcyondaze. I thought you might have some tips. I'll probably go and buy a cheap fan tomorrow that I can have running in that corner to keep the air circulating. From those photos...too many, too few, too close?
I've followed John on YouTube for quite a while now. He's a live one for sure, haha. I love his energy and container knowledge. Microgreens are so yummy. I eat a lot of sprouts too.
Ha, he sure is! He is really knowledgeable and visits some great growers too.
Good luck! growing microgreens is very profitable!
Thank you!
Like you, I've had my eye on microgreens also.
Need to learn more about them and love that you wrote and shared this post.
Thanks @goldendawne. I thought I best just get on with it as I've been thinking about it for so long. Eventually you just gotta get your hands dirty, right?! :D