Growing microgreens for your salad

A couple of packages of seed in a couple of pots can produce enough greens for several weeks.

Some easy-to-grow microgreens are:

Lettuce

Use leaf lettuce, such as black-seeded Simpson. Or try a red lettuce, such as Ruby.
Germination: seven to 14 days.

Turnip greens

The leaves of turnip plants have a mild flavor, close to spinach. You’ll plant regular turnip seeds, but don’t worry, you won’t get full-grown vegetables. Germination: four to seven days.

Arugula

These dark green leaves bring a nutty taste to your salad.
Germination: five to seven days.

Planting Microgreens

You don’t need deep pots, but pick one with a wide diameter. A hanging basket will do. Plant while the weather is cool. Place pots in a shady spot outside: greens don’t like it hot.

To plant, create two circular furrows, about a half-inch deep, in the soil. Then sprinkle the seeds in the furrows (not easy: they are small) and cover with soil.   Keep the soil moist. The plants will grow close together, which is what you want.

Once seeds sprout, wait until they are 1 to 3 inches high to harvest. Then cut the leaves, (don’t pull) so the plant continues to produce.

The length of harvest depends on how warm your weather is. But finally, the plants will bolt (flower) from the heat, and die out. But you can plant more in late summer and have greens during the fall.