Posts Tagged ‘coriander’

Growing Microgreens

03
Aug
2011

Rocket microgreens

Microgreens are the LATEST food garnish – you’ve probably spotted them on all the cooking shows and in restaurants.

 

Microgreens are essentially very young seedlings of edible herbs and leafy greens, that you grow in a compact space and harvest when they are only a few weeks old.

On the left is a punnet of rocket microgreens – they have been growing for just over a week! They’ve germinated nicely and you can see the roots in the soil and the lovely green cotyledon (or the first leaves).

Within another 1 week these rocket seedlings will be ready for harvest. And the intense rocket flavour from such tiny leaves is really delicious.

To harvest – just snip off the leaves as you need them!

Try using your old strawberry or other fruit punnets to grow microgreens in!

 

 

To grow microgreens you will need:

  • a small pot (or recycle some strawberry punnets!)
  • some seed raising or potting mix
  • a spray bottle (to spritz them with water daily)
  • and some seeds!

Put about 3-4 cm of potting mix in the bottom of the punnet, generously sprinkle over the seeds and give a light dusting of potting mix over the seeds (it doesn’t matter if they are not fully covered).

Then spritz with water and place on a window sill (a west, north or east facing window sill is best).  DO NOT LET THE POTTING MIX DRY OUT! It doesn’t need to be soaking wet – but just moist. So a spritz of water morning and night should be plenty.

Snip off the leaves of the microgreens as you need them. Unfortunately once you’ve cut off the young leaves that seedling won’t re-grow – but if you plant a succession of punnets you can have a continuous supply.

Watching microgreens grow is GREAT FUN for kids!

Try growing ANY edible leafy green or herb as a microgreen.

Experiment with….

  • mustard
  • endive
  • rocket
  • lettuce (any type)
  • basil
  • coriander
  • watergress
  • or try mixing up seeds of different lettuce for a multi coloured microgreen crop!

 

Microgreens have a lovely fresh and strong flavour for their size and are SUPER easy to grow.  They are a great way to add a “chefy finishing touch” to your home cooking!

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Growing Coriander…

05
Jun
2011

Freshly planted coriander

Why: If you are coriander LOVER then you’ve GOT to try growing your own. Or else you are going to be hit with up to $3.50 per bunch from the supermarket each time you need a fix…..ouch!

Take that $3.50 and spend it on some coriander seeds or seedlings instead, for a couple of months FRESH supply!

When: The cooler months of autumn, winter and spring are ideal times to plant coriander.

If you’ve ever tried growing coriander in the warmer and drier conditions of summer it tends to “bolt to seed” (meaning it doesn’t produce much leaf, it just sends up seed heads and then dies off).

I tend to buy seedlings, but if you want to grow from seed – sow the seed directly in the spot you want the plants to grow. Sow the seeds 5mm deep and you can put them in rows, but I’m generally lazy and just sprinkle them around!

Coriander Loves:

*  Organically rich soil, mix through some organic compost or pelletised chicken manure before planting.

*  Growing in pots – just use a GOOD quality potting mix and a pot with good drainage. But NOT terracotta, these tend to dry out too quickly.

*  A sunny spot – although if you are trying to grow it in a warmer climate, position it so it doesn’t get the hot afternoon sun.

*  Give it a gentle fertilise with something organic, like Seamungus pellets every 1-2 months.

Coriander Hates:

*  Root disturbance – if you are planting seedlings, don’t tease the roots out or try and separate out each tiny individual plant.

*  Drying out – letting your coriander dry out will also send it to bolt. In this cooler weather you’ll probably need to water 2 times a week if we don’t have rain.

Harvesting: Freshly planted coriander

Cut the leaves off as you need them. A regular trim will actually help encourage new growth…..and therefore MORE coriander – YUM!

If you want to use the roots in cooking, pull the whole plant up – just make sure you give it all a very good rinse before using in cooking. Nothing worse than a gritty stirfry or curry!

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