GROW YOUR OWN SUPERFOOD!

The past few weeks have been trying for us and have truly made us introspect. Learning to grow your own food can be liberating, especially during times like these. While a large part of the population struggled to find decent produce of fresh fruits and vegetables, there were also those who had kitchen gardens or farms and sustained themselves through this trying time. Is it time to finally pick a space and get digging?

While not everyone has the luxury of space to grow a sustainable kitchen garden, growing micro greens in a container can certainly be done. All you need is a shallow, sturdy container made of plastic or terra cotta, some fertile, compost rich soil, dry leaves and a few seeds from your kitchen pantry. We're sure you can manage these. 

 

What are microgreens? 

Before you begin to develop your green thumb, I'd like to delve a little deeper into what micro greens are, if you haven't already heard of them. Micro greens are edible plants that fall somewhere between sprouts and baby plants. They're the homegrown equivalents of your baby corn, cherry tomatoes etc. only, smaller, more nutrition dense and very, very quick and easy to grow. They are known as specialty greens. A very simple way of understanding micro greens is that they are herbs and plants, which are harvested just before the leaves, develop. They can be grown in a small space at home and consumed all year long. They are choc-a-block with all things healthy and nutritious because they are the purest form of plants.

How to eat microgreens?

 They are super versatile! You can get as creative as you want with microgreens as long as you follow the two-step rule. 

1. Microgreens must be eaten raw. 

2. They must be consumed within hours of harvesting to utilize their nutrition value at the best. 

Add them to your soups and top your salads with them, add a little crunch to your rice or wraps with these super healthy plants. You could even throw in a few microgreens to your smoothie to pack a powerful punch to them. Since they are so pretty, they're great for garnishing your dishes – as long as you promise to eat them too! You could incorporate microgreens to your Indian dishes by adding them in the kachumber / koshimbir / green salad or topping your vegetable curry with a few sprigs. The best thing about these greens is that they don't alter the taste of anything, only add a ton of health and goodness to your dishes.

Let's get started…

Here's what you need

•  A shallow bowl, plastic reusable box, terra cotta pot, any clay pot or a garden container 
• Dry leaves 
• Compost rich soil 
• Water 
• Seeds (can be from your pantry)

 Microgreens that you can grow: Mustard, sesame, green peas, spinach, fenugreek, radish, amaranth, and beetroot. You may find a lot of these in your pantry essentials.

Method 

1.Take a pot/plastic reusable container/bowl from your home.

 2. Fill it a little with soil, compost, and crushed dry leaves. This should cover about 10 inches of your container. Make sure the soil is moist. 

3. Evenly spread the seeds on top of the soil. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil and spray the surface with water (the seeds will come up after you spray the water, just cover them with soil again) 

4. Leave it in a semi-shade room or a well lit area in the house. Avoid direct sunlight – these seeds take about 10- 12 days to evenly germinate. Lightly water the pot everyday. Make sure you do not over water or under-water the pot. 

5. Greens are usually ready to harvest in 14-18 days, depending on the type of seed used. 6. On the 14-16th day when the micro greens have grown about 3 inch, you can harvest them from the roots and consume it directly/raw. Don't forget to wash them! 

We hope you enjoy this process and try it at home! Truth be told – anything you grow will always taste sweeter and better.

(Tanya Khambolja is the Co-founder of Riverfarm Community Farm & Founder of Urban Khetti)