For the last few weeks, we’ve been experimenting with growing micro greens. These little plants are packed full of nutrients and flavour; they’re lovely in salads or as a garnish, are really easy to grow, not very expensive, and they’re a fun educational project for the upcoming school holidays. I bought our kit from Bunnings for about $15.00 and it came with a few seed varieties: Basil, Watercress, Sunflower (for info on sunflower micro greens check this out) and Rocket.

We found the whole growing process quite fascinating as all the seeds behaved differently and grew at different rates – some in rather strange ways. The Basil had an odd gelatin like looking substance around it and looked like was not going to do anything, but then in a few days, little shoots appeared. The Rocket got underway pretty quickly as did the Watercress; the Sunflowers took quite a few days, but once they sprung into action they grew at a rapid rate (don’t let these get too big before eating as they taste best when small).

The second time we grew the mini garden, we used seeds that I had saved from crops grown outside: Rocket, Coriander, Parsley, and Kale – they all grew really well and tasted delicious.

If you’d like to give this a try, you can buy everything you need directly from Mr Fothergills which is the same tray etc that I bought at Bunnings.  This is a hydroponic set so no need for soil, they happily grow in water as long as you keep it topped up and remember to mist them a couple of times a day. For lots of great info on micro greens go here.

Photo credit Luke Besley

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