Food production can be a problem for many people who have little or no access to land.
There are many who live in conditions where even a balcony is a precious space.
I have spoken before about the ways in which access to growing space can be achieved, through allotments, community gardens and the like, but here is something which may prove to be an inspiration, a new way of looking at food, both growing it and eating!
As an aspiring Vegan, (sometimes I miss the mark!) and dedicated grower and lover of all life, I have recently been converted to “Micro Greens.”
The concept is extraordinarily simple!
Seeds such as lettuce, peas, beets, etc., are sown and grown for about two weeks or less, before being harvested and added to dishes.
These Micro-Greens, it is said, contain up to 40% more nutrients than older, traditionally grown and harvested vegetables.
I can believe it!
Yesterday evening, I had a dish of cooked brown rice, mixed with Micro Greens, seasoned and drenched with the juice of half a fresh lime and this morning I feel a surge of energy!
Micro Greens can be grown on a window ledge, balcony, hanging basket…anywhere they can get a decent dose of light!
Growing Organic is easy to manage in small areas too!
Little or no problem with slugs and availability all the year around!
For me, the days of packaged salad of any kind are over and the tiresome task of cooking greens are almost over…adding raw makes more sense in every aspect of preparing and eating food!
All you need is a tray, or pot of compost, seeds and water!
So, there you have it…a new way of living…simple, easy and kind to Mother Earth!
And the fun part? Now you can enjoy seeing some of your vegetables run to seed, like this Mizuna in the Potager Bed!
Here are just some of the seeds you can grow Micro Salads from…
(Both the Light Catcher and the Bird Box were gifts, made by Nick O’Neill…aren’t they lovely?)
Reblogged this on Bealtaine Cottage ~ Home of Goddess Permaculture and Earth Healing.
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Excellent idea! Thanks for being mindful of us landless ones. :]
Inspirational to this not-really-a-gardener who just discovered your blog only recently. It’s breakfast time here in Southern California and I am hungry for a fresh green salad of micro greens. I love the idea of growing my own salad greens . . . it doesn’t seem to be too difficult. Sara
Good evening Sarah from a soft May evening here in the west of Ireland. It’s so easy and so much fun to grow micro greens…it will change how you view food! Blessings XXX Colette
Love it! Many thanks for sharing 🙂 x
Thank you for sharing your journey with gardening. Our daughter just planted an herb garden. Love the pick it fresh and eat it now concept!
I have just finished the rice and micro veg…added chopped walnuts to it and it was yummy!
Thinking about the price of some seeds, I remember someone saying that to buy a cheap packet of dried peas works very well.
All dried seed will work to some extent. Better still…plant a few from each packet and let them seed…save and use again.
Very inspiring, I can’t wait to gather those containers and start! I have been looking further into what plants are edible and was recently given a book called “Food from your Forest garden” by Martin Crawford and Caroline Aitken. One of the edibles was Sedum. I crept out late last night to pick off a leaf, and gingerly cut a bit off and I was surprised that it was quite nice, as so often I try plants that are edible but not very nice. The leaves are young at the moment and would look very attractive in a salad.
Another great addition to the salad bowl! Blessings XXX
Reblogged this on Violet's Veg*n e-Comics and commented:
So simple it’s brilliant!
Thank you for this brilliant post! It is an inspiration and I’m going to get on with it today! Can’t wait to eat my micro-greens 🙂
Blessings XXX
Here’s a thought, Colette. We’ve been eating about 95% organic for almost 30 years, believe it or not. People complain that organic food is expensive (and it can be sometimes, I admit) but the thing is, thinking ‘organically’, as you know, almost invariably leads to veganism; it seems to me a perfectly natural and logical path to take. So…
So…using methods such as your micro salads along with the more common sprouting, you can eat mega-healthily and for little money. Thus eating organic becomes not a matter of cost, more of principle. It becomes easier to buy, let’s say, a bag of your favourite top quality (and no doubt expensive) organic rice when the rest of your ingredients in the meal are ‘free’ or at least minimal cost.
We have sprouts (growing in sprouting trays) on the window ledge every single day. There’s a huge bunch of alfalfa sprouts there at the moment. Mustard seed, radish, sunflower seed, whole lentils, broccoli (and other brassica) seeds, grains, cress, mung bean, chick pea and so on are just as easy and delicious. It’s another way to get your nutrition without chemicals or ‘waste’ and again, extremely cheap, tasty and versatile. Chick peas sprouted are a favourite of mine (raw hummus, yum) but all sprouts are easy to digest, as the phytic acid is neutralised and aflatoxins are inactivated.
Enough for now! Good luck and take it easy.
Regards
David
What wonderful information…thanks David!
Blessings XXX
What a delightful post! What is exactly micro-greens? Can one only grow it out of seeds or can you reproduce it from the roots of foods you already have at home like I do with my leeks?
Both, but ideally from seeds, as the nutritional value would appear to be higher!
O.k thanks a bunch!