Microgreens Offer an Excellent Alternative to Lettuce and Spinach
Visions of vivid green, and Spinach crisp and juicy microgreens sprang to mind last week after I noticed there was no lettuce or greens except avocados in the stores in Mexico where I live. Again.
It has been a particularly wet, cool and long rainy season and many veggies have not available for weeks as a result.
Another problem is that the price of fresh veggies, especially organic produce, in the big supermarkets that sell imported brands, has increased every week for two years.
I find that they are no longer affordable or worth the money: expensive, tasteless, and often half wilted before you get them home.
In Mexico I find the lettuce is usually bitter, too.
There is a fairly easy solution that beats inflation and provides a tasty alternative: microgreens.
My Microgreens Experiment
I believe we need to start growing our own microgreens and herbs at home, and start supporting local growers.
At least, this is what I am trying to do.
My Microgreens Experiment.
Since Microgreens are not common here, I am going to start growing my own.
I’ve started a batch of Microgreens in a back room for two reasons: to create an economical and fast solution to what I see as a food supply chain problem, and to have something to offer to start an eco-village community in the style of a REKO RING.
I’ll keep you posted about how it goes.
Why Aren’t Microgreens More Popular?
To be honest, I’m surprised Microgreens are not more popular and well known here in Mexico and around the world.
The idea is not new.
I first saw Microgreens growing on top of a roof of a taxi in Thailand that picked me up one day.
This became a trend after the economy crashed in Thailand in 1997 and people needed to feed their families with food they could afford.
Taxi drivers could grow and tend their vehicle rooftop gardens while driving full time 8 or more hours per day.
Having a closely supervised mini- garden on the rooftop also prevented theft of a valuable food source. People were hungry and getting desperate, so community gardens were often robbed during the day when the gardeners were working their regular jobs.
The thatch of greens on the rooftop of the car I was in was thriving under the constant care, despite the choking exhaust diesel fumes. At every stop, the driver got out and misted his greens.
I was impressed at this ingenious solution that created a quick source of affordable food during this time of skyrocketing inflation.
You can read more about this innovative idea and other ways the Thais coped with economic hardship in my previous article, here.
Microgreens are Ideal for the Subscription Business Model
The next time I saw Microgreens was during the Covid lockdowns in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, another example of a time of economic hardship.
A young man in his late twenties came around to all the ground floor apartments with patios in my apartment calling over the low fences to offer containers of his incredibly lush green broccoli, sunflower, red raddish and arugula greens.
He offered to deliver them by weekly, with your choice of greens ordered a week or so ahead of time through his Facebook page.
I thought this was brilliant. It was an incredibly helpful and convenient idea, and a wonderful way to eliminate waste and ensure his profits since he only grew what was ordered in advance.
Best of all, his microgreens tasted far better than the greens sold at the supermarket, for the same price (less, if you factor in transportation costs in terms of money and time).
Pre-ordered Microgreens could be a perfect and quick solution to our current inflation conundrum and supply chain issues worldwide.
They could create food stability and food security even for urban dwellers in tiny apartments.
What exactly are Microgreens?
Microgreens are simply young edible plants that are harvested at a very early stage, when they only have two leaves. This stage of development is called ‘seed leaves’ or cotyledons. They are highly nutritious, and there are many reports stating they are 40x more nutritious than fully mature plants.
The seeds are grown densely in soil in trays, using sunlight or grow lights.
Microgreens are different from sprouts, since sprouts are grown in wet conditions, without soil, in dark conditions and harvested before the leaves can grow big.
Many plants make tasty microgreens including broccoli, sunflower, cauliflower, radish, arugula, mustard, basil, cabbage, and beet plants.
These tiny edible plants can be harvested within 7 to 10 days after planting.
You can start a tray from seed and be eating them a few days instead of waiting many weeks or months as you would if growing these veggies in a traditional garden.
They are highly nutritious. Microgreens are 40X more nutritious than a fully grown and mature plant.🌱
They are inexpensive compared to imported greens.
You can grow a tray for less than buying imported organic greens grown far away and marked up on price by a number of middlemen.
One container of greens lasts longer than you might expect.
I found that the Microgreens I bought that were delivered to my door the day they were harvested lasted many days longer, sometimes as much as a week longer, than the salad greens I bought at the supermarket.
Also, a tiny container of Microgreens can last for many meals. They are grown in a way that is surprisingly dense, and this means one container is packed full of tiny plants. In my experience, a small container can last for a number of meals as additives to salads, as garnish ‘mini- salads’, as sandwich greens and ingredients for smoothies.
While they might not fill your plate like a salad with big leafy greens does,they are just as satisfying because they pack a flavourful punch and are so nutritious.
How do Microgreens Compare to Sprouts? What’s the Difference?
Microgreens aren’t soggy like sprouts can be. Since Microgreens grow in soil and are cut like hair at harvest time, they don’t get mushy like sprouts that are immersed in water frequently and left to grow in very moist conditions.
Microgreens aren’t as drippy and messy to deal with when cooking either.
Microgreens are firm, springy, tender and bursting with flavour once you bite into them, like the crisp greens freshly picked from a garden.
You can grow them even in tiny apartments.
I believe that microgreens are the ultimate micro- business for those seeking alternatives to sell or trade with others.
Not only are they a way to feed yourself and your family while to bypassing paying inflated prices in stores, but they can be used as barter items with neighbours and friends, or as a side hustle to earn extra cash.
I dream of a future where every household has a ‘green wall’ or greenhouse area that includes micro greens and herbs, in a healthy house made of Industrial Hemp.