KUSA - If you miss the tastes of homegrown vegetables, planting starts this week. Lettuce, spinach and kale may be planted in outdoor patio containers to develop during cool weather. The plants are frost tolerant but may be covered or brought inside when temperatures dip much below freezing.
It's probably easiest to start with vigorous seedlings from the garden center. Combine them with pansies to add some color. The pansy petals are also edible. Use fresh potting soil and use shallow bowl-shaped pots; the roots don't go deep.
To spice up that salad grow some "microgreens" on the windowsill. These trendy greens are even smaller than baby vegetables and very tasty. A microgreen is a seedling that has a central stem that is harvested with scissors right at the soil line when it is just 1.5 to 2 inches tall. There are many different mixes of microgreens but they may include mustard, spinach, radish, arugula, cress, kale, basil, beets or cilantro.
Anyone can grow microgreens. Use a shallow tray with just a few inches of soil and space the seeds closely. You can just sprinkle them and cover them lightly with soil. Keep the soil as moist as a wrung out sponge but not soggy. Cover the tray with plastic wrap and keep in a warm spot.
The microgreens will be ready to harvest in as little as two weeks after the seeds germinate. You don't need an especially bright spot since it's no problem if the seedlings stretch. New batches of microgreens can be started every few weeks.
Plants are courtesy of Tagawa Gardens.
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