Microgreens......

Wheat sprouts at the top and beneath green peas - I'll be growing the peas on for shoots.

Today I said I'd talk about microgreens. Most people may be familiar with them from MasterChef and its ilk. Those lovely little bits of green that brings the plate to life...........
However, microgreens are now hitting the supermarket shelves and a while ago I bought some garlic chive micros from Tesco. Did I eat them? Not a bit of it! I planted them and grew them on and I now have a big clump in the garden............well, someone else had done the work starting them off for me and for £1 something or whatever they were - it was a bargain!
It would not have been a bargain however, if I had wanted them for eating! Heavens there wasn't so much as a mouthful................
Microgreens are easy to grow (like sprouts) and are extremely nutritious. Think about it; sprouts put all their energy and enzymes into the first big push of growth - microgreens are the next stage and we then gain by having chlorophyll rich leaves. What's not to like?
The two books I'd recommend (and there are many out there now) are;
Microgreens; A Guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens and also Microgreens; How to Grow Nature's Own Superfood.
For me, these two say it all and what I do like about them is they're sumptuously illustrated with the sort of photos that make you want to get your compost and pots out!

I posted a photo yesterday of sunflowers greens - well, they are doing really well and I'll be really generous to you all, and let you see them before I eat them (just, of course, so you see the size etc to use them at).

I will, of course, be talking more about the goodness in sprouts and micros as we go along but the first few posts are hooks - to get you interested and keen to stay with me and get sprouting!

Tomorrow, we'll go nuts...............(if I haven't already ..............)

Recommended books......

Sunflower greens - one of the absolute best sprouts!

Today I promised you some good books to read. The first one I ever read and it really got me hooked, was this one; The Sprouter's Handbook by Edward Cairney If you only want one book this is it. I have read this one so often I can probably recite it word for word (and I must ask my other half if I do so in my sleep - I know I do often witter away in between the Z's..........).
It's not an expensive book but it is worth it's weight in gold! It's practical, no nonsense and what I like most is Edward doesn't advocate going out spending a fortune.
Dr Gillian McKeith did much for sprouts in her TV series and books i.e. You Are What You Eat and I have those too but for sprouting guides another very highly recommended author is Sproutman! (AKA Steve Meyerowitz). His famous Book; Sprouts the Miracle Food -The Complete Guide to Sprouting is also very good. However, for me there are several things wrong with this book (just personal observations here). I don't like the fact he (obviously) recommends his own way of sprouting (and I can understand that) but despite being a Sprout Nutter I don't want bags of dripping sprouts hanging from my taps, thank you very much - I like doing it My Way! (Mainly because it works.......)
But in Steve's favour (and he knows much more than me!) he has done excellent research and really knows his stuff so if you want the nitty gritty on sprouting (and maybe are happy having bags of sprouts around the place) he's your man! (Steve also uses baskets for sprouting which again, although it works really well - space really is a premium for me and I don't want baskets all over the place either!)
I know some time back there was a lot of controversy over alfalfa. Steve blew that one apart (good on you Steve!) Although for myself I always believe in 'moderation in all things' - and that includes how much alfalfa I eat!
Another great little book albeit not a sprouting book but one for anyone with very limited space is; The Window-box Allotment and having just checked it out on Amazon for the link - it seems to have been upgraded so I can feel a new copy coming on. It's a delightful little book.
More books tomorrow and we'll also move on to books on the next stage of sprouting - Microgreens!

The photo above is of my newly hatched sunflower greens. (The shells will drop off as they grow). For these you do need unhulled sunflower seeds like these Organic sunflower seeds  don't try this with the shelled ones you buy for nibbling! If you want to sprout those (and you can) do so overnight only. They will turn brown and won't be very pleasant after that!

Sunflower greens are absolutely delicious - trust me - lettuce will never taste the same again but we'll reach that point in due course, so stay with me and you too can become a Sprout Nutter!