Microgreens: Healthy Fast Food

My thoughtful brother and sister in law bought me Country Wisdom and Know-How for my birthday. It was a thoughtful gift and I really appreciated it. However, it was one of my favorite books already and we have used it as a sort of backyard farming guide for years (see link above for review). I returned it to the book store and bought another book that I have had my eye on for a while. Microgreens: A Guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens by Erik Franks and Jasmine Richardson.

I haven't grown microgreens yet but I plan to use this book to help me start. my love for them started when I first had a pea shoot salad at a restaurant. Microgreens are vegetables in their very early stages. They are the stage a plant goes through after sprouting and before becoming baby greens. Microgreens are planted and then harvested usually within 4 to 10 days after sprouting. You cut the tips off of them and you have mini vegetable leafs that go great in salads, on sandwiches, and in meats. They are extremely flavorful and all the rage in fancy schmancy restaurants. They are packed with nutrients and even taste healthy and fresh. My main goal in learning how to grow them is to supplement my winter foods with fresh microgreens throughout the cold months. They can be grown indoors under lights, or outdoors using extremely small and limited areas. The image below is from the book.

I haven't had a chance to read all of the book yet as I have spent all my free time recently preparing a garden bed and trying to survive beekeeping for the first time. I plan on doing a review of the book once I have finished it but in the meantime I wanted to share a quote from the book that I really liked.

As human beings, our roots lie in the soil. Although many of us have forgotten this important link over the past few generations, our connection with nature is so ancient and fundamental that it cannot be completely disregarded. If while we are eating we pause for a moment, we can easily follow our food back to the plants, the animals, the soil, and even the wind, rain , and sun. All of these things have their confluence on the farm. here is no avoiding that the health of the earth and the health of human beings are intimately tied. 

Have you had microgreens and if so what did you think about them? Have you grown microgreens? What did you find worked for you? Any feedback, experiences, or opinions on microgreens would be very appreciated.

Michael