All posts filed under: microgreens

Seed Starting Basics

We Planted Our Basil! We Did It! Finally, after talking about it, we made some time to plant a few basil seeds.  It’s so easy to put it off, and then 3 weeks have passed by and still no seeds planted!  I try not to stress too much about it, because I know I can always buy a plant at the garden center if I get behind.  The point of all of this is to have fun and learn something anyway right? The Case of the Missing Basil Seed So I was all ready to get started.  I went to the basement, found the wooden box that we keep all of our seed packets in.  I began digging, and digging…..and digging some more. I am now the proverbial squirrel in search of the nut! No luck.  No basil seed to be found!  “I could have sworn I still had some of that basil seed!”  I did find about 3 packages of Arugula seed, and a bazillion packages of Zinnias and other garden flowers, tomato, pepper, …

Self Watering Seed Starting Kits

I found something interesting today related to seed starting.  The older I get, the more I think I should simplify. I was looking around on line for some cool indoor containers that would be fun to grow basil seeds and found this cute little kit.  It seems a bit pricey, but it looks sleek and contained. This unit is self contained and includes: a grow light a self watering system with water reservoir cartridges of special soil with seeds already embedded in them (evidently these are re-usable)   How it works: According to the video, you pop in a pre-planted seed thingy that has the perfect amount of nutrients, special soil, etc. all in a cartridge of sorts. pop in a cartridge, fill a reservoir with water, and plug it in. Self watering seeds are a go.   Who Could Benefit from a Product Like This: It could potentially be awesome if you are one of those crazy busy people who wants fresh basil, but can’t handle one more thing to remember to take care …

7 Reasons You Should Grow Microgreens

Why the Sudden Interest in Microgreens? A few years ago, when my boys were ages 2 and 7, I discovered microgreens.  It had been a long winter, and I was aching to be outside.  January and February are the months when my family gets a new seed catalog in the mail at least once a week!  This may be from my last 17 years of mail ordering seeds and bulbs! The first time I heard the term, microgreens, was at a “Grow Your Small Market Farm” class my husband Tim and I took at Iowa State University during our days as cut flower growers.  I had no interest in microgreens at the time, because I was deeply invested in growing cut flowers.  I was always curious about what they were and how to grow them, but never made the time to learn more, until that long, cold winter a few years ago. I must have seen something about microgreens in one of our seed catalogs, and decided to learn more that winter.  It was a …