Homegrown microgreens can be a great way to add lots of taste and fresh nutrition to your meals, especially during the winter. Getting started can look pretty expensive and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. I'm going to share how we do them, the cheap and easy way.
For sprouting and/or microgreens, you want to use food grade seeds since they won't be treated the same way garden seed packages often are. We like peas because they are: easy to find and grow, cheap, produce big enough greens that they can be used many ways, will regrow a few times and they taste like fresh peas.
Dried peas can be used several ways in cooking so you can find bags of them at most grocery stores. We found the best deal for us was at our local Indian grocery store. The pictured 4lb bag is going for around $7 these days and we used less than a half bag over last winter. ( you can often find other sproutable seeds there at great prices too. Fenegreek is our #2 choice. I just find it a bit more complicated than peas but still very easy with great flavour)
The other supplies you will need are at least one cleaned takeout container that has a lid, ( if you can save several, that's the best option so you can have a more continuous supply) and a bag of potting soil or growing medium. I got a nice bag of organic, high porosity potting soil on sale in the fall and still had lots by the spring.
To get started you want to soak some of the dried peas in water for 12-24 hours. I go with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried per container and rinse the peas before making sure they are well covered in water to soak. They will plump up but still be fairly hard. The photo shows what they look like after soaking.
When the peas are ready, put a thin layer of soil in the container. At least a 1/2 inch and you don't need more than 1 inch depth. Then sprinkle the peas to cover the soil. You want to lightly water the soil so it is damp but not so wet there is loose water. Then cover with the lid.
Peas like it fairly cool to germinate so if you if you have a colder spot, you can put them there for a few days. Don't worry about getting them sun at this point.
Check on them every day or 2 and make sure the soil is still damp. They should sprout in 3-5 days.
Once they are sprouting, like the picture, you can take the lid off and move them to a sunny window. Keep giving them a bit of water every couple of days as they grow.
As soon as the sprouts are at least a few inches high, you can start clipping and eating. Clip off the sprouts at least a 1/4 inch above the seeds. ( the whole sprout is edible, including the tendrils) Peas are big enough seeds that you can often get a second or third round of growth from each batch. The later ones just won't be as large or tasty.
Once the seeds are fully used up, you can just dump them in the garden as mulch and clean the container for a new round.
If you want to have a regular supply then more containers come in handy since they let you keep starting new batches. One to 2 a week was the right amount for the 3 of us.
These greens can be used raw and plain, just as greens in sandwiches, snacked on or added to salads. They are great in soups, scrambles or stir fried too so lots or option.
Enjoy!
