What is more nutritious, flavorful, aromatic, and healthy as well-cultivated garden-fresh microgreens? As the need to turn to ‘cleaner’ eating habits increases, growing microgreens is now becoming a booming business activity. Today, most western restaurants use microgreens as garnishes and condiments in dishes.

In this post, we will look at what Microgreens are, what growing them calls for and whether growing them is a worthy investment.

What are Microgreens?

Microgreens are tiny young seedlings of vegetables harvested shortly after the cotyledon leaves have developed to be used in a variety of dishes. Microgreens can also be eaten raw, blended, or juiced. Since microgreens are harvested at their initial growth stages (usually one to three weeks old), they come packed with nutritional components, including vitamins, antioxidants, and enzymes. Microgreens work well for a variety of meals, from soups to sandwiches.

Why Microgreens?

Other than microgreens being highly nutritious, there are other reasons outside the health benefits why many people prefer growing them. Check out these reasons to understand why microgreens are worth growing.

•    They require very little space
With microgreens, you can’t complain that you have limited free space for gardening. With the right cabinets, growing trays and a growing medium, you can actually grow them in your kitchen. If you have space at your balcony or rooftop, you can get a little creative and grow your microgreens there. You even don’t have to use soil as the growth medium as there are hydroponics systems for that.

•    They are low maintenance
Although microgreens require special care during their growth stages, it is something that anyone can learn to do easily. In fact, microgreens can be an excellent introduction to gardening for beginners. The beauty of microgreens is that even if you are not successful in your first round, relatively little resources and time will be lost.

•    Highly economically viable
With $1000, you can start growing microgreens for your household and restaurant. Selling microgreens in your restaurant is highly profitable and even if you don’t have a restaurant, there are many outlets out there willing to buy your microgreens at premium prices.

•    Less dependent on weather conditions
In most cases, microgreens are grown in a controlled environment and hence their cultivation is less likely to be affected by climatic conditions. This simply means that microgreens can be grown all year through.

With this said, let’s now look at how you can grow microgreens at home.
To successfully grow microgreens at home, you need these primary supplies:

•    Microgreen trays
These are growing trays that are specially designed to support microgreens. They come in different hole sizes, but a 1-inch tray is deep enough to grow microgreens. Most of them come with a clear lid to retain moisture in the growing medium.

Any brand will work and you can easily purchase them from Amazon.

•    Growing medium
Here, you can either pick soil or soilless medium to grow your microgreens. If you take the soil route, just make sure that it is well aerated. Examples of soilless medium for microgreens are coconut coir or potting mix.
You can acquire potting mix medium from Amazon or prepare it at home with peat moss, compost, perlite, sand and vermiculite; components that are readily available from your local gardening store.

•    Certified microgreens seeds
Certified organic seeds are the safest way to grow healthy microgreens effectively. Before you purchase the seeds in large volumes, test a few varieties and see how they perform in the growing medium you have. Buying in bulk will definitely save you some coins.

The best place to get high quality certified organic microgreens seeds is Amazon.

•    Grow light
Microgreens require enough lighting, especially when they are grown indoors. Regardless of the brand you go for, make sure that it produces medium to high light to support effectively indoor microgreens growth.

Amazon again offers the best grow light LEDs for microgreens.

•    Spray bottle, labeling, and record-keeping materials
To effectively water the microgreens, you need a nice spray bottle. The labeling and record-keeping materials are essential when you are doing microgreens for commercial purposes and for a relatively long time.

To acquire these items, visit your local gardening accessories shop.

What are the most common varieties of microgreens?

Ideally, every vegetable has a young variety and hence can be grown as microgreens. However, the choice of microgreens from one person to another is determined by preferences in appearance, taste, and cost of the seeds. With this in mind, many people prefer to grow kale, radishes, broccoli, spinach, red cabbage, basil, and lettuce as microgreens.

You are, however, not limited to options as you can choose any vegetable or herb that works for you and the growth environment you have prepared.

How are currently priced?

Currently, many microgreens go for $25-$40 for a 16oz package. Let’s look at a few examples to understand how you can sell your microgreens if you have a microgreens business.

These prices are for 4oz, 8oz, and 16oz in that order.
•    Basil, Leek, Radish- ($8, $16, $32)
•    Kale- ($10, $19, $38)
•    Mustard-($10, $20, $39)

Steps to grow your Microgreens at home

Growing these plants is quite easy. You only need to do the following:
•    Collect the supplies discussed above
•    Fill your microgreens trays with the growing medium you have
•    Scatter your seeds on the growth medium and press them gently into the growth medium. You can soak the seeds in water overnight and plant them the next day to speed up the sprouting process
•    Place the trays under a grow light
•    Mist but not wet your seeds daily
•    Wait until the cotyledon leaves come out to harvest

What kind of restaurants use Microgreens in their kitchens

For every city, regardless of its size, there are restaurants that have included microgreens in their menus. Any restaurant that advocates and is open to ‘clean’ eating will have chefs looking for microgreens. Visit various fast foods, fast-casual, café, fine dining restaurants, and food trucks and check if they have included microgreens in their menus.

To make good sales to restaurants, make sure that your prices make sense based on what national microgreens suppliers offer.

The Bottom Line

Growing microgreens is the smartest move you make today to improve what comes from your kitchen, especially when you run a restaurant. They are easier to grow indoors or outdoors, chefs love to cook them, and most importantly, they enhance a restaurant’s menu. Just grow microgreens the right way and you will have a variety of recipes for home or restaurant cooking. Don’t forget to source your microgreens seeds from a reputable shop to ensure that you have high-quality, fast-growing, and healthy microgreens.