tiny garden: microgreens, the beginning.

Our microgreens experiment has only just begun. Freshly sown on their windowsill home, I don’t have anything in the way of sexy shoots to show you. My experience with growing these shoots at home is mostly limited to my experience with growing wheatgrass for festive springtime decoration, but I figured it might be fun to invite you all along for the fun—and suspense—that’s seeing what crops up in a tiny apartment garden.

Last year we got notice from our landlord that we couldn’t pot up our usual summery garden and so we’re experimenting with growing things in other places this year. The tree pit down the street, for one, and whatever we can sprout indoors in this old tool tray for another. Here’s to marking the process.

For the curious:

+ Beyond seeds, I didn’t want to buy anything new for this little venture and so we’re planting directly into the old galvanized tool tray I already had. I like that it’s pleasant to look at and neatly contained. If you’re hoping to score something similar, vintage options abound. (Try the search terms tool caddy or tool tray and steer clear of painted options.*) If you don’t happen to have a vintage tool tray laying around, and you don’t want to buy anything new, all manner of other shallow containers could work as well: pie plates, takeout containers, plastic berry cartons, etc.

+ I ordered microgreens seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Faye loves the lemony tartness of sorrel and so we got a packet of that, plus a mild mix of brassicas, and some beautiful purple red rubin basil, because when given the option to decorate your plate with small purple leaves, who can say no?

+ We didn’t presoak our seeds, which is sometimes a thing people do, but before sowing a liberal layer of seeds directly on top of the soil, we did make sure that the soil had been sufficiently moistened. Our plastic watering can broke after 6 years or so, and so instead of buying a new one, we banged some holes into the lid of a mason jar with a nail and it’s been the perfect solution for somewhat more controlled watering.

+ In an effort not to damage the delicate plants, we’re planning to keep things evenly moist with the help of a fine mist. We set aside a small spray bottle relabeled for the purpose. (Easy to use, sturdy, and free!)

Things I’m curious about:

+ We only have north facing windows in our apartment and this time of year the trees outside are filling up with leaves, making things even shadier than usual. It’s possible this will need to be more of a wintertime activity for us, when our apartment is brighter, but time will tell!

+ In preparing our little plot, I read that some folks keep their seeds in the dark until they germinate. I’m experimenting without doing that this time around, but I’m interested to see how it goes.

+ Any microgreen growers out there? Can’t wait to share our process and progress and would love to hear from you, too!

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