If you’ve been taking part in the 52-week salad challenge so far, you’ll already know that microgreens are a lynchpin of your salad dishes at present. They are quick to grow, do not require as much light or space as cut-and-come again salads, and have a wonderful kick of a taste.
Some microgreens are well-known, others less so. To help you get a fat crop of tiny leaves that is as varied and flavoursome as possible, here is a near-comprehensive list of salads that you can grow as microgreens:
Amaranth
Basil
Beetroot
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery leaf
Celtuce
Chard
Chervil
Chia (Salvia hispanica)
Chicory
Chinese mustard
Chinese water pepper
Chives
Coriander
Cress
Dandelion
Dill
Endive
Fennel
Fenugreek
Garlic chives
Hong vit
Hon tsai tai
Italian dandelion ‘Red rib’
Kale
Kohl Rabi
Komatsuna
Lamb’s lettuce
Leek
Lemon balm
Lettuce
Minutina
Mitsuba
Mizuna
Mustard
Orache
Par cel
Peas
Perilla
Perpetual spinach
Purslane
Radicchio
Radish
Rocket
Sage
Savory
Shungiku
Sorrel
Spinach
Spring onion
Tatsoi
Thyme
Turnip
Watercress
Yukina
Warning: While you can grow most salads and herbs as microgreens, you cannot use the leaves of parsnips, as they are poisonous at all stages.
Don’t forget to follow others taking part in the salad challenge on twitter using the hashtag#saladchat. And if you don’t have your own blog but want to write a post about your own experience of the challenge, then use our Your Blogs section.
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Mel
Thank nyou so much for this list. I have been wondering if there are any I shouldn’t be eating. I am safe from parsnips, because I don’t eat them when large, so I haven’t any seeds!
Gudrun
Hallo, I’m intrigued by the idea of growing microgreens, as the recemt cold has even killed off my hardiest overwintering vegetables.
I didn’t find spinach or lambs lettuce on your list, but I have lots of extra seeds. Can I grow these, too? And if so, how do I go about?
Thank you!
F&F
Hi Gudrun,
You can grow them as microgreens for sure – the omission was a mistake! I’ll add them now. Here’s a guide on how to grow them:
http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/blog/2012/01/07/the-52-week-salad-challenge/
Thanks!
Barbara Wilde
Thanks for the link, and the heads up about parsnip leaves! Not that I was going to eat the leaves, but still lol
Sonia Rasbery
Been considering trying out micro-greens, so pleased to come across this article and information through your 52 week challenge. Will be having a good read through for tips and advice.
Mel
I went to a restuarant the other day and was served cucumber microgreens. They were very tasty, but more like lamb’s tongue lettuce with a hint of cucumber. I would recommend them, especially if you have seed saved from last year’s crop.
F&F
Mel, that’s such a good idea. I’m sowing pumpkin and courgette as microgreens in the next week to see what they are like.