Eat Your Greens

Ever since I put away our Christmas decorations I have been dreaming about my garden. I ordered seed packs from West Coast Seeds through my daughter's preschool fundraiser. But my frozen zucchini and kale stores from last summer were finished and I wanted some fresh, organic, local greens.

I have been coveting a Growlight Garden system from West Coast Seeds for some time and in late January, when I was there to buy some lettuce seeds for my class, I decided to act upon impulse and buy it. I could hardly wait to set it up and start growing.


Microgreens, which are different to sprouts because they are grown in soil, are jam packed full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and antioxidants. I am so excited to have fresh, organic greens whenever I want.

The growlight just fits on my kitchen window sill, but I'm sure it could fit on a counter or shelf somewhere out of the way. I like having it right in my kitchen where we can watch it grow and have it handy for eating. The light source cover is adjustable; the cover in the picture below is on a low setting and as the seedlings grow I raised it.

I started with arugula, broccoli, radish and spinach, sprinkling the seeds liberally over the soil because I wasn't concerned about spacing. In fact, I wanted to maximize the surface to grow as many seedlings as I could.

The seedlings sprouted quickly, within three to four days.

I was able to start harvesting the micro greens after two weeks. It is possible to pull them right out of the soil and wash off the roots, but I opted to cut them with scissors for convenience.

My go-to lunch these days is quinoa salad with chick peas, celery (hopefully soon from my own celery plant), carrots and microgreens. My favourite so far are the arugula and radish greens because I love the spicy, peppery zip they add to my food.

I will be using my Growlight to start some of my summer garden seedlings come spring. In the meantime, I am enjoying, fresh homegrown microgreens.