Growing Micro Greens

GROWING MICRO -GREENS FOR FUN AND PROFIT

By: Duane MarcusThe Funny Farm

www.funnyfarmatl.com

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MATERIALS

FLATSI prefer the flats pictured at right because the bottom is almost solid and they are a little larger than web trays so hold more greens. I have used solid sided web trays by lining the bottom with landscape fabric.

SOILI make my own soil mix using our worm castings mixed with 25% local granite sand for nutrients and drainage. Use whatever soil mix you prefer. Since the greens will be grow-ing beyond the “sprout” stage you will want the mix to have a store of nutrients so i recom-mend adding compost or worm castings and a small amount of your favorite fertilizer.

SEEDSI am focussing primarily on brassica mixes because the germinate consistently in 3 days, grow at a uniform rate and are nutritious. I mix mustards, kale, tatsoi, broccoli, pac choi etc. This is a good way to use the little bits of left over seeds that I always seem to have lying around. You can customize the mixes to be spicy or mild depending on your preference. You can also do lettuce mixes or single species of arugula for example. The key is to choose varie-ties that germinate and grow at the same rate.

METHODFill the flats halfway up with moist soil. Sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons of seed evenly over the surface of the flat. Cover the seed with about 1/4 inch of soil. If you cover them too deeply you can have a problem with the emerging seedlings pushing up large clumps of soil that are hard to remove. Water the flats. If some of the seed is exposed add a little more soil

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to cover them. The flat at right is seeded with Hong Vit radish green seeds. I seed that more thickly because the sprouting seeds are strong so I can wash the clumps of soil off them without hurt-ing the emerging seedlings.

TIMINGThe brassicas germinate in 3 days. It takes about 3 weeks for them to reach harvest stage. I let them grow to the stage where they have 2 strong true leaves and a couple more leaves visible at the growing tip. As the weather cools off it will take longer for them to reach harvest stage.

The radish greens I manage differently. They produce strong thick stems when they first germinate. I har-vest them before true leaves develop. I harvest them when the stems get about 2.5-3 inches long . It takes only 8 days to grow a harvestable product. My farmers market customers love them as spicy additions to sal-ads. I also sell them to a gourmet burger joint where the put them on burgers and in salads. I get $12/lb. at the restaurant. At market I sell them in 2 oz. bags for $2/bag. I get 1 lb. of micro-greens per flat!

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Hong Vit micro-greens ready for harvest

Mixed brassicas ready for harvest

I do not have any figures on the brassicas yet but I expect that I will get less yield than with the radish greens because they are more tender, and they are not planted as thickly.

HARVESTI cut the whole flat of radish greens. Then I recompost the soil in a bin for about a month and reuse it. If I am consuming the brassicas myself I cut what I need each day over several days. For market I will harvest a whole flat at a time and sell in small bags just like the radish greens. When you cut them, leave the growing tip intact and you can get a second harvest in a few weeks. After that, re-compost the soil and use it again, adding more nutrients when you do.

STRATEGYCan this be done during the winter? It can be with the right setup. In my basement I have a table with a grow light under which I can get the seeds germinating. When they have fully sprouted I move them to an un-heated greenhouse to grow on until they are ready for harvest. I will be building an earth-sheltered coldframe in the next couple of weeks that will be large enough to contain 6-8 flats. By using frost blankets I think I should be able to grow these most of the winter in our climate.

This will be the first time I have tried to do this on a larger scale so I will be working out timing issues as I go along. How long from seeding to harvest as the weather turns colder will be the main question I will be answering. Also I will determine how much cold can be tolerated as well.

I also plan to grow pea shoots and tendrils in a similar fashion. I will be planting them in hanging baskets be-cause I have lots of them. They need a little deeper soil because they grow longer to reach a harvestable size. I purchased a few pounds of dwarf grey sugar snap pea and gonzo pea seeds because they are recommended varieties for this type of production. I will report my progress on this as I go along.

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