Growing your Own Greens & Micro Greens for Smoothies
Green smoothies are amazing and I’m sure you can tell by now that I’m a big fan. The only problem is that you need a steady supply of fresh greens to make them. That means frequent trips to the grocery store—which can get quite pricey. This is particularly true if you’re sticking to mostly organic, local product.
Thankfully there’s an easy solution for this. Grow your own greens and micro greens for these smoothies at home. It’s a lot easier than you think.
Here’s a quick and easy way to get started and get your green thumbs wet. Go buy some organic heads of Romaine lettuce at the store for your next batch of smoothies. Cut off the stalk end and set it in a small glass container. Add enough water so the light, stalky part is well covered. Sit then in a sunny window and watch fresh new Romaine lettuce grow.
You can stop there and harvest the new growth after a week or so for your smoothie, or if you’re seeing roots develop, plant the stalks in some potting soil and grow entirely new heads of lettuce.
That was quick and easy, right? How about something almost as simple—growing your own micro greens. Micro greens are tiny little leafy green seedlings that are just a little bit more grown up than sprouts. Grab some lettuce or radish seeds and a hollow container for planting. Fill it with potting soil and sprinkle your seeds over it. Gently cover with a little more soil and water until the soil is well moistened. Keep your planter in a warm spot and before long you’ll see little sprouts appear. Next the plants get their first two leaves. After that, real leaves start to appear and once you see 4 or 5 of those, you can start harvesting your micro greens. Add more seeds and repeat the cycle.
Of course you don’t have to stop there. You can grow lose leaf lettuce in a bowl or pot on your window sill in the same manner. Or grow your seedlings indoors and then transplant them into a container or garden bed outside. Or, weather permitting, grow your lettuce outside from seed to harvest.
And don’t stop with the lettuce. Grow some radishes, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, peppers & even berries at home. It’s a lot of fun and a great hobby to get into. And I promise your smoothies will taste even better when you start to grow your own produce.