There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of growing your own food. It elicits a deep sense of pride in having created the perfect conditions for a seed to flourish and nurturing it into something that you can actually eat – perhaps one of the reasons why gardening makes us happier. And yet for those of us with limited access to outdoor spaces to cultivate, this idea can seem overwhelming if not impossible. Enter the humble microgreen – the young tender stalks and leaves of immature vegetables, grains and legumes – that can be grown indoors in a small apartment, with minimal equipment and a bit of water and sunlight. You can go from seed to harvest in as little as a week for some seeds meaning you can have a mini organic farm no matter what your square meter living space is. A favorite is broccoli shoots, the seeds require no pre-soaking, they grow incredibly fast and they are bursting with nutrients. Their mild, grassy flavor makes them a great garnish for soups, or a bright, refreshing addition to sandwiches and salads.
While you can go all-in and buy specialized sprouting trays at a gardening center, an up-cycled tetra-pak works just as well and allows you to start out small when you first begin. Microgreens are best grown on a layer of loose fertile organic soil, organic herb potting mix or coconut coir (coconut fibre).
BROCCOLI MICROGREENS
Equipment: a used 1 quart (1 l) tetra-pak; a pair of sharp scissors or a stanley knife; a corkscrew; organic soil, herb potting mix or coconut coir; a water spray bottle; a small weight
Ingredients
2 teaspoons organic broccoli seeds
Method
1. Lay the tetra-pak on its side with the front of the pak facing upwards. With the scisssors or stanley knife, carefully cut along the outer edges of the up-facing panel of the tetra-pak, to create a growing vessel with a rectangular opening. Thoroughly wash the inside of the tetra-pak and lose piece you cut out. With the pointed tip of a corkscrew, pierce several holes in the bottom of the tetra-pak to allow for any excess water from the soil to drain.
2. Fill the tetra-pak half full with organic potting soil. Lightly moisten the soil using the water spray bottle. Place the petra-pak in some kind of tray to catch any moisture.
3. Sprinkle the broccoli seeds evenly across the top of the soil. Moisten the seeds and soil with another light spray of water.
4. Using the side of the tetra-pak that you cut out as lid, place it directly on top of the seeds, weighing it down with stone or a small wooden block. This will both block out the light (mimicking the conditions of seeds buried in soil), and will also help the roots to grow down into the soil helping the broccoli stalks to grow straight upwards. Two to three times a day, remove the weight and lid and moisten the seeds with the spray bottle of water, until the seeds have begun to sprout and push up around the lid. At this stage the shoots will be a light yellow, as they will not have been exposed to sunlight. Note that you may notice a fluffy white substance growing around the base of the sprouts. This is not mold, but rather a part of the root hairs.
5. Once the shoots are about half to one inch (1-2 cm) high and the roots are growing firmly into the soil you can remove the weight and lid and place the tetra-pak in direct sunlight. Within hours the shoots will begin to turn green as the plant creates chlorophyll from sunlight. Continue to spray the shoots several times a day for a further 4-5 days until they are ready to harvest, when they are about 4 inches (10 cm). Harvest the stalks using a pair of scissors and place in an airtight glass jar lined with paper towel or a clean kitchen cloth and store in the refrigerator, for about a week.
This is a Nourish the Planet recipe, part of a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan.
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