micro greens

Sunflower Micro Greens: A Time Lapse Photo Journal

Sunflower micro greens are deliciously nutty with the flavour of raw sunflower seeds but with the texture of spinach. They are easy to grow in just about any container you can find around the house like clear plastic salad mix boxes.

Micro greens are different than sprouts because are grown in a soil or soil-like medium. This is a time lapse photo journal of about 2 weeks growing time for my sunflower micro greens.

For more information on how to grow them check out this post on growing micro greens in a chicken dome. For information on sprouting check out this post on sprouting mung beans and green peas in a mason jar or this post on my Fresh Life Automatic Sprouter.

Day 1

Day 5

Day 7

Day 15

Day 17

SuperSowSunday Show & Tell

Here’s what seeds I’m starting right now (left to right) in my self watering mini greenhouses:

Green peas for micro greens x 2
Black oil sunflower seeds for micro greens x 2
Violetto Artichoke (and Italian heritage variety) x 2
Eggshells for seed starters

Growing Sunflower Sprouts Indoors

Tis the season for micro greens and sprouts. The weather outside is frightful freakin’ cold – the coldest on record in 25 years. Too cold to sprout seeds outdoors, even under cover, so I’ve brought the operation indoors.

A few years ago I gleefully ripped open my festively-wrapped automatic sprouter and started the winter tradition of growing fresh greens on my kitchen table in the less pleasant months. There are many seeds that benefit from spouting in this manner (hydroponically) like radish, alfalfa, lentil, clover, and many more. Sunflowers however, do much better when grown as micro-greens: seeds that are sprouted in soil and harvested as seedlings.

Indoor Gardening Project: Sunflower Micro Greens

Equipment:

makeshift mini greenhouse
organic black oil sunflower seeds
clean potting soil

Directions:

No fancy equipment need for this high-brow salad trimming. I used a biodegradable plastic dome (make sure it’s food safe) from a pre-cooked organic chicken: a prefect soil tray and greenhouse. You could also use a milk jug cut in half, a cake tray, or whatever you can imagine that would create a mini greenhouse.

Add about an inch of clean, rich soil to the bottom tray, and spread sunflower seeds over the top. I generously cover the soil with seeds not letting any of them overlap. Cover those seeds with just enough soil to hold moisture on them and put in a warm place out of direct sunlight. The top of the fridge is a great place to sprout them. In 1-4 days when the seeds have sprouted, remove the dome and get them to a bright windowsill. Don’t bother using a grow light or worrying if the sun isn’t shining every day. Who cares if they are leggy?! You just get more yummy sprout to eat.

The micro greens are ready to harvest when the mighty seedlings push up the soil (which helps to knock off the black husks) and grow two fat seed leaves. Snip the seedlings at the base and wash in a salad spinner. The nutty flavour is a fresh treat in the colder months and it only takes about 7 days from seed to table.