Microgreens are tiny edible greens that are used as a garnish or add it to a salad. Restaurant chefs have used them for years to add flavor to a meal. In fact, microgreens were recently named one of the five top food trends. Microgreens became popular about 20 years ago, when a few restaurant chefs in California started using them into their garnishes and salads. Even NASA is doing research on microgreens to use it as one of the potential food sources for astronauts.

This popularity makes a solid demand for this micro-crop and made a great opportunity for urban farmers. Growing microgreens for profit is a great way to use your gardening skills to make a solid income from selling your microgreen crop to local grocery stores, individuals and restaurants. Microgreens can be grown indoors or outdoors. So, they are prefect crops for urban farmers.
They are easy to grow that can be harvested in less than two weeks. Microgreens sell for over $25 a pond, so growers can produce a good income in a very small space and since they are becoming trendy, food lovers at the farmers market are eager buyers, paying up to $15 for a tiny four-ounce bag.
Microgreen blends are very popular at the market as well such as Asian blend with tatsoi, mizuna, and mustard or an Italian blend with kale, arugula, broccoli, and basil. My personal favorite is all red blend using red chard, beets, red amaranths, and red cabbage. You can start a microgreen business with just a small amount of money as low as few hundred dollars for seeds and supplies. You do not need much space as you can use racks to grow them vertically. If you are looking for more information about microgreens and how to grow them, here is a great information about this popular specialty crop.

Materials

• Aluminum pan (10″*20″)
• 1 cup of pea shoots seeds
• Paper towel
• Clean scissor to harvest
• Measuring cup

Instruction

• Soak 1 cup of seeds with 2 cups of water for 24 hours.
• After 24 hours, pour out the water and evenly distribute the seeds on the paper towel.To moisten the paper towel, add 1/2 cup water.
• Cover the seeds with the lid for 48 hours to stimulate the seeds to sprout. You can use cardboard to cover the seeds.
• Remove the lid and allow the microgreens to grow for 4-5 inches (about 1 week).Do not forget to add some water (1/5 cup) to the pan. You can cut the entire pan of microgreens about 3/4″ from the base. Continue watering every day.
• You can harvest (cut) your pea shoots at least three times. Then you need to replace it with new seeds and start over.

More information about fruits and alternative crops

1