I recently discovered the superfood Microgreens & both my flock & I are now enjoying them

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Ra_

Ra_

Crowing
12 Years
Jan 25, 2010
1,157
969
331
North Central Florida
After seeing how the NY Attorney General exposed some of the health supplements I've been buying as containing 0% DNA
of what is on the label, I decided to just try to eat better.
I've never been much of a vegetable lover so when I saw that Microgreens have recently been discovered
to possess as much as 40X the vital nutrients of the mature plant, I tried growing some for myself.

Here is some data on Sunflower Microgreens from renowned herbalist Isabel Shipard:

Constituents:

phytosterols, oils include linoleic acid, 60% and oleic acid 30%, coenzyme Q 10, saponins, albumin, lecithin, betaine, quercimetrin,
tannins, sesquiterpenes, pectin, lignans, protein 24-30% with 8 essential amino acids (amino acid score 81, moderately low in lysine)
Vitamins:

A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, B15, C, D, E, F, H, K, choline, folic acid, inositol, PABA
Minerals:

calcium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, silicon, sodium, sulphur, zinc
Actions:

anti-inflammatory, antifatigue, antimicrobial, antioxidant, diuretic, expectorant, galactagogue, hypolipidemic, nutritive, tonic


I grew some Lentils first and they grew well. I harvested them 11 days after planting the sprouted Lentils.
Then I tried some Sunflowers and Wow! I really love the taste of these.
They are sooo juicy & succulent.

I harvested half the tray on day 7 and they made a couple of salads & a big smoothie, with enough left to let my chickens sample them.
Today is day 10 and the "real" leaves are developing. It is said that they can become fibrous after this point but these are still very tender.




5 days ago I planted a 5 foot patch directly in the ground in the chicken's paddock and put a ring of 1" chicken wire around it.



Most microgreen growers are growing indoors in climate controlled conditions.
I'm in Central Florida and I'm growing outdoors, so I would have a harder time with Lettuce or Spinach Microgreens but Sunflowers like the heat.
I've got the various sources for the nutritional info listed on my Microgreens website.
 
MrsBachbach said:
Are these just regular sunflower seeds that you plant? Would the BOSS that you buy packaged in the the stores for birds sprout?
Click to expand...

These are Walmart Pennington Black Oil Sunflower seeds
40 pounds for $16 and change.

Most Microgreen growers use organic seed which is a lot more expensive.
I'm poor so I tried these and although they probably sprout more slowly than seeds bred for Microgreens,
they grow very fast once they get going.

Make sure not to buy seeds with fungicide added. These have vitamins but that doesn't bother me.
I suspect that Pennington avoids pesticides on the seeds as much as possible because birds are sensitive to such things.
(canary in a coal mine)
I wash the seeds and rinse them numerous times while pre-sprouting them and the hulls fall off before I harvest them,
so I don't think much pesticide makes it into the product.
I grow with a mix of Black Kow & Peat Moss with a little native sand mixed in.

I watered the batch that I ate myself with Kelp.
I used a very thin layer of my soil mix on the ground in the paddock & I'm watering these with diluted fish emulsion.
I covered them with some lengths of vinyl siding after planting to shield them from rain and sun.
After they dig in, I expose them to full sun & storms and they do fine.
 
Ok, thanks.

Are they planted in soil when they pre-spout? You talked about rinsing and pre-sprouting them, so I'm unsure what you are doing.

I'm also wondering if they would even sprout at this time of year for me. We are already experiencing cooler weather and very cool nights.
 
Yes, I soak them for about 12 hours, then drain them. Rinse them every 12 hours after that for the next day or two.
I spread them over the soil when most of them develop tails.
I then sprinkle a little more soil on them and cover them with something for a couple of days.

Keep the sprouting jar in a warm area of your home.
It also got cool down here since my first crop and things are growing a little more slowly.
 

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