I have been a dedicated plant lady for almost four years now, which is a major transformation of someone who never grew up with plants in my house. My family had always lived in an apartment so a backyard garden was a distant concept to me. Though if mum hadn’t gotten cancer and life hadn’t been too chaotic, she would have made a keen gardener. She excels in anything she puts her mind to, and she has always loved flowers.

Fast forward to today, I’m still living in an apartment but in Petone, a cute seaside suburb outside of Wellington city, and I’m growing a little veggie garden indoors. I have started to collect decorative house plants since 2018 and learned a lot along the way. But growing vegetables and edible plants is another level. Ever since last year, I have found a way to grow vegetables indoors and I’m absolutely loving it!

I first learnt about microgreens through a video by one of my favourite YouTubers - Thuy Dao (Her86m2). She is also a Vietnamese living abroad and makes beautiful videos about her indoor gardening which got me very inspired. I started to look into microgreens and was surprised to learn about all the amazing fun facts about them.

Microgreens are essentially baby plants of vegetables and herbs. They only grow to about 2.5–7.5 cm (1 - 3 inches) tall. According to many sources, they are believed to contain a higher concentration of nutrients compared to their mature forms. They are particularly rich in antioxidants and minerals such as potassium, zinc, iron.

Not only are they nutritious, but they also require minimal set-up, grow really fast, and can be harvested between 7 - 21 days depending on the type. That’s definitely the main appeal of microgreens to me. It means I can grow them all year round and have a constant supply of greens every couple of weeks.

There are many ways to grow microgreens. I have seen people use egg cartons or shallow trays lined with baking papers! I have a Mr. Fothergill's hydro garden that I use to grow microgreens. It makes the whole process even more effortless. The hydro garden uses a hydroponic method and is small enough to sit on my kitchen benchtop. It has a built-in LED full-spectrum light so I don’t even need to put it somewhere with sunlight. I only need to add water, vermiculite (as a growing medium) and seeds. No messy soils! It takes me less than 15 minutes to set it up. Then I leave it be, and two weeks later I can harvest my greens. I have made a video with a detailed step-by-step here.

I also love the abundant variety of microgreens. Generally speaking, any vegetable or herb seeds can be grown as microgreens. The most popular varieties are produced using seeds from the following plant families (1):

• Brassicaceae family: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, watercress, radish and arugula

• Asteraceae family: Lettuce, endive, chicory and radicchio

• Apiaceae family: Dill, carrot, fennel and celery

• Amaryllidaceae family: Garlic, onion, leek

• Amaranthaceae family: Amaranth, quinoa swiss chard, beet and spinach

• Cucurbitaceae family: Melon, cucumber and squash

I have been buying Mr. Fothergill’s Seeds from my local Bin Inn. I believe they are also widely available in most garden centres and hardware stores.

Seeing how easy it is to grow them at home, it’s cheaper to do it rather than buying them from the supermarket. Hope this post is helpful and inspire you to grow microgreens at home!