Growing food indoors during the winter might sound like a large project, both in time and expense. But when the steps are broken down, it is much simpler than you think. The most difficult part is deciding what varieties to grow and the tastes that best suit your palette.
Let’s focus on lettuce and micro-greens for this easy primer.
Why, what, how and where
Neon flash for any person who believes their plant-growing skills are lacking or non-existent: Growing lettuce and micro-greens at home will prove that you’re not only capable and successful but it also could launch a whole new you, giving you a true green thumb.
Home-grown lettuce is almost as different from store-bought in taste as home-grown tomatoes are. Try seeding and growing lettuce at home, not just for the delicious taste and texture, but also for the convenience of adding a side salad to any meal. Plus, it is always a nice touch to have lettuce to complete a sandwich when you’re having soup on a cold winter night while perusing a new garden catalog.
Giving credit where due, commercial and small growers have come a long way in improving lettuce varieties and taste; even the packaging has gotten better if you’ve tried it from a box. Container lettuce is worth buying a time or two, just to hold on to and re-use the package to grow lettuce and micro greens at home.
Micro-greens are the first tiny green seedlings of plants that are usually seeded outside in the spring and harvested when fully grown. They include lettuce, broccoli, basil, sunflowers, peas and seed mixes of cress, chard, mustard and many more. The taste of these little micro greens is beyond delicious, and fresh. In the blink of an eye — OK, perhaps mere days — they are ready for eating after seeding.
Toss micro-greens on soup, pasta, sandwiches, eggs, vegetables and main dishes. Using them on your morning oatmeal might be a stretch, but they are genuine antioxidant nutrient boosters for eating and juicing.
Purchase specific micro-green labeled seeds from garden centers, online or use leftover seeds from your cache. One caution: Parsnip seeds used for micro-greens are poisonous, so only seed parsnips outside in the spring and grow until these root vegetables are fully mature.
Just like micro-greens, use what lettuce seeds are on hand or shop for any mix or type you like best among the categories: butterhead, looseleaf, crisphead and romaine.
Seeding
Clean and rinse an empty plastic lettuce container (or any low container). Poke some holes in the bottom for drainage.
For a larger mass of micro-greens and lettuce, try growing them in recyclable large aluminum pans sold at grocery and discount stores. Those pans are less expensive than specific seed-starting trays in most cases. Use a screwdriver or nail to poke holes in the bottom. Bonus, they are often sold with their own plastic cover, which works great as a dome over the tray until the seeds are up and moved under grow lights or near a sunny window.
Fill half to three-quarters of the plastic tray or aluminum pan with moistened, sterile seed starter or a very lightweight potting soil (not outside garden soil from the ground).
Heavily sprinkle micro-green seeds or leftover seeds over the soil. Use a separate tray for lettuce seeds since they will take longer to mature.
Add a very light layer of soil over the seeds.
Water the seeded area well, using a sprinkler-type head instead of a regular pour-type nozzle which can move the seeds and soil around too much. Keep the seed bed moist.
Tray location and vare
Place the tray with the plastic cover near a sunny window or under grow lights that are 12 or so inches above the trays. Technically, growing micro-greens and lettuce under indoor grow lights is ideal, but if saving on expenses try growing them near a sunny window (not too close to chill the seeds). For small batches, which is always recommended on the first try, purchase a grow lightbulb sold at garden centers and hardware stores and position it toward the seed trays. Use a timer for turning on and off; 16 hours on and eight hours off works well.
Use a heated seed mat if you wish; it will hasten seed emergence.
Once the seeds are up (usually in two to 6 days; read the seed packet for days of emergence), promptly remove the plastic cover and place it near a very sunny window or under grow lights.
Water when the soil looks slightly dry, usually every day; they can dry out quickly, so keep an eye on them. Lack of water is sure death.
In about seven to 10 days, the fresh little micro-bursts of micro-greens should be ready for harvest. Lettuce will need a few more weeks to grow.
To harvest, cut a handful of micro-greens right above the soil line; they won’t need rinsing unless some soil is holding on. Continue harvesting the micro-greens until they are all cut.
Harvest the lettuce by cutting the leaves but leaving an inch of growth at the base of the plant which will grow back quickly and provide more lettuce to harvest. This is the same cut-and-come-again procedure often used when growing lettuce outside.
When the plants are spent, just flip over the tray of soil in the same container and do another batch of seeding. Continue this method for a time or two or use fresh potting soil. If indoor gnats become a problem, toss the soil, clean the containers and start over with fresh potting soil.
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.
