How to Grow Micro Greens (for the Culinary Chef)

Micro greens are often ordered online or purchased from local farmers by home, hobby and professional culinary chefs. Both are great methods. But some culinary chefs want to grow their own for a variety of reasons including being able to experiment with new micro greens and being able to tell patrons that the restaurant grows its own micro greens, or that at least one of their culinary chefs is also a local farmer.

This article focuses on micro greens used for trendy foods. See Resources for article on growing wheatgrass for juicing, which is also sometimes called a form of micro greens.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Understand their growth and light needs. Micro greens need light, but not the minimum six hours of full sunlight like other crops grown to full fruition. They are usually harvested within three to five weeks when two to four inches tall, then allowed to rebound (especially lettuce micro greens) or the growing medium is composted and a new crop is sown. Culinary chefs can grow micro greens at home on their porch or balcony, in a windowsill, in their own home gardens, or on site at the restaurant. If professional culinary chefs need more quantities than are currently practical for them to grow, they can still grow a few for experimentation, to be able to state they grow on-site micro greens, and to get a feel for growing them on a small scale in case they want to expand in the future.

2. Choose the location. Micro greens need light to grow but don't need many hours of full sun. Their light can come from a window sill, your porch, or grow lights. If using natural light, they need at least six hours of filtered, occasional sunlight or even just direct daylight. If your growing containers have drainage holes with no catch reservoir, keep in mind that moisture will leak out when the micro greens are watered.

3. Choose the micro greens growing container. Once you know the size of the location, choose inexpensive growing trays or growing pots at least a foot or so in diameter and at least four inches deep. These can be purchased at any garden store.

4. Choose the growing medium. Micro greens can be grown in organic potting soil or grow mats made especially for this purpose. Culinary chefs can brag about growing crops from organic soil if choosing the soil method. Find an outstanding organic potting soil that offers more than "dead" plant waste. Some have beneficial micro organisms, worm castings, kelp or seaweed, and/or alfalfa, all of which will give micro greens outstanding nutrition, health and flavor. Line the container with flattened coffee filters to help keep soil from leaking out the bottom drainage holes when watering. Fill it up to two inches from the top. If using growing mats, they need to be ordered from suppliers, then follow their instructions.

5. Choose and plant the micro greens for growing. Only certain plants can be grown as mesclum or micro greens. Seed catalogs will sell mixes or seeds of individual plants for growing as micro greens. When you're first experimenting, you may want to grow individual micro greens crops or pre-made mixes, rather than mixing your own. Some take only a little more than a week to reach harvest size, and some can take longer than three weeks, plus, they change flavor as they mature and rebound, so culinary chefs need to either start with individual plants or allow the experts to create the mixes, at least at first. Each plant or mix will have planting instructions, most will have you sprinkle the mix over the soil, press down, cover with about a half inch of soil, then gently water.

6. Water properly. Micro greens need their soil to stay moist, never dry or soggy. They're especially vulnerable to drying out when first planted, so check daily.

7. Harvest at two to four inches tall. It's a pleasure for culinary chefs to snip micro greens with kitchen scissors moments before serving their dish. Some micro greens, especially the lettuces, will continue to put on new leaves after harvest. These should be fed a liquid organic fertilizer after each harvest. Other micro greens are meant to be cut when their first true leaves form, and are essentially finished after a single harvest. In that case, compost the growing soil or mats. If you have space, sow successive crops every week for continual harvest. If you don't have the space for successive crops, grow micro greens timed for special occasions such as family gatherings or when there are especially high restaurant customer numbers.

Tips & Warnings

• Some culinary chefs may prefer grow mats over soil. A couple sources for micro greens are Sure to Grow and Sprout People, who offer a growing mat called Baby Blanket

• If you decide you want to expand, the cinder block gardening method may work well for the needs of culinary chefs. Larger micro greens gardens can be planted in small easy-to-expand garden compartments, each rimmed with culinary herbs if you choose. See Resources for this article.

• Author disclaims liability and offers article for educational purposes only. Parents are responsible for any activities involving their children. Author's articles are registered with the national copyright office and protected with Copyscape

Resources

• Construct cinder block raised bed gardens
• How to grow wheatgrass