What are microgreens?

Microgreens are essentially miniature seedling versions of edible vegetables and herbs. To be more exact, microgreens are in the intermediate growth stage between sprouts and baby greens. And they come in all sorts of intense, complex flavours ranging from spicy, zesty, nutty, acidic/lemony, and even umami.

Depending on where you live, some people refer to microgreens as micro leaves, vegetable confetti, or petite greens. Even the word ‘microgreens’ was initially separated as “micro greens” or “micro-greens”—and honestly, they are all correct.

Are microgreens difficult to grow indoors?

Growing microgreens at home is incredibly simple and it can easily be done without any special equipment or gardening experience. It's helpful that you can pack them in tight since you’ll be harvesting them before they become larger plants (usually harvesting them after only 7-14 days). It just requires following some straightforward instructions (which we provide with all of our kits) and keeping an eye on the plants each day

How can microgreens be used?

Depending on your culinary skills, microgreens are really open-ended in the sense that you can add them to a number of dishes like salads, sandwiches, stir-fries, juices, soups, pizzas, pastas, and so much more, but you can also use them as a way to step-up your culinary presentation skills by using them as a garnish. Due to their often-vibrant colors and intense flavour profiles, incorporating microgreens into your cooking is a sure-fire way to enhance the visual presentation and flavour of any dish!

What are the health benefits of microgreens?

The various health benefits will vary across the wide range of microgreens, but there are definitely some overarching facts that apply to all of them. For example, studies have shown that while they may be tiny (typically only growing 2-6” tall), they really pack a punch in terms of nutrient level—meaning that they contain on average 4 to 40 times more nutrients than their mature vegetable or herb counterpart. 

To give you an example: red cabbage microgreens contain 40 times more Vitamin E and 6 times more Vitamin C than fully-grown red cabbage. Now that’s incredible! 

With all that in mind, microgreens shouldn’t be seen as a means to replace fully-mature vegetables and herbs since they provide you with the necessary fiber that your body needs, but microgreens can help supplement and fill in all of the other gaps in your diet.

How many times can you harvest microgreens? Do microgreens regrow?

For the most part, no, most microgreens don’t regrow. Some pea-type microgreens like green peas, speckled peas, snap peas, field peas, and fava beans are more likely to regrow, but typically the second-harvest of microgreens just don’t have that same intense flare of flavour like the first batch does. Furthermore, the regrow rate is typically insignificant to be serious about—that’s why most commercial microgreen farmers just throw them away into compost and begin anew.

This is a big reason for why all of our microgreen kits come with enough seeds and soil to provide 4 unique harvests.

What do you need to grow microgreens at home?

This is probably the coolest part about microgreens—you don't need any special equipment and it only requires a few items: microgreen seeds, soil, a growing tray, a spray bottle for water, a spot to grow them with indirect or direct lighting, and simple growing instructions!

Written by Curtis Nemechek

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If this article has been helpful or informative in any way, please leave your feedback below. It would be incredibly appreciated. This post marks the first of many microgreen articles that will follow. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or shoot us an email at team@uminimalist.com.

And if you're new to microgreens and want to try out one of our DIY Microgreen Starter kits, which comes with all of the components needed and easy growing instructions to get going, please check out our Grow collection! We carry kits to help you start growing microgreens like Ruby Red Radish, Broccoli Brassica Blend, Microgreen Salad Mix, and many more!