Garden Prattles | In a Vermont Garden, a Gardening and Composting Blog

Sprouts & Microgreens

I am craving green. It happens this time of year when the world around me has turned every shade of brown. The tasteless lettuce stacked enticingly in grocery coolers deceives customers, not worth a penny of the steep asking price. The cilantro and parsley are equally lacking in flavor. I cannot buy kale when for the other three quarters of the year I have more than I could ever eat. Last night I devoured a bowl of green cabbage, celery and avocado salad. It was crunchy and fresh with just lemon juice, olive oil and salt for dressing. Celery and cabbage hold their flavor at this bleak time of year better than their tender shelf neighbors and avocado, being in season in unimaginable parts of the world here in the cold north, are cheap. I splurge on them.

My other green source is sprouts and new this year I am giving microgreens a go. For sprouts I cover the bottom of a canning jar with seeds- radish, alfalfa, broccoli. Then add about an inch of water. I cover the jar with a couple of layers of cheese cloth, hold it in place with a canning ring and let soak over night. In the morning I drain the water and leave it upside down on a plate with the edge of the jar on the rim of the plate so that any extra water can drain out. The smell of rotting sprouts can turn me off of them for a whole year until the green craving returns, so I like to make sure they are not sitting in water. I rinse them everyday and within a few days I have sprouts for my sandwiches and salads. I store them in a cloth produce bag in the fridge.

Growing microgreens is new to me, but as my tiny seeds are just poking out of the soil I am getting excited about it. I took a plastic growing tray with holes, set it in a tray without holes (to allow for drainage), filled it half way with potting soil (adding some compost would have been nice, but I did not have any). Then my little helpers dumped (and I do mean dumped) the remnants of all of my greens seed packets onto the soil. We used lettuce, kale, chard, radicchio, arugula and watercress. I tried to spread them out a little and covered with a sprinkling more of potting soil. I set them on a heat mat (I am not sure this is necessary) and now that they have germinated I will put them under lights, but a sunny window would work just as well. When their true leaves appear- snip, snip! What a beautiful green salad I will have!

And what else is going on in my garden of the mind…. Seed catalogs of course. I have had some lovely moments browsing and dreaming huddled in my warm home while winter swirls around me. I have lots of ideas I want to share from noodle beans to cherry bombs, but time is running short right now and that is a lengthy discussion for later. And of course compost. We are filling a bucket in the garage with coffee grounds, tea bags and chopped grapefruit rinds- the pigs’ rejects, but a lovely start to getting my ComposTumbler going in the spring.

The New Year

A new year is refreshing. There is energy for nagging projects and tasks that have been pushed aside since last new year’s. What was unpleasant, sad or difficult can be categorized into the year 2011 and we can start anew. And there is the feeling that this year we can really make a go for it. This is particularly true for the northern garden or homestead. The land is still and quiet with little to be done, but deplete the stores and plan the plot. There are two months to dream, create and start again.

We are starting this year with two pregnant goats (we think). This is our first foray into breeding and milking anything. Daisy and Thumper seem content enough, perhaps a little disgruntled at the cold. They are due the beginning of April and I intend to milk them and make cheese. Intentions are lovely this time of year cozied up inside with my dreams. But the reality of kids coming and a stack of goat books at the bedside shakes me momentarily out of my reverie giving me a little panic, but there is time to prepare I remind myself.

Then there are the pigs that come to greet me on my daily rounds or more likely to see what tasty treats I brought them. Seeing my empty hands with disgust they usually turn curly tail and go back to their shelter. They are spending the winter in a weedy portion of the garden, rototilling the soil with their powerful snouts while simultaneously composting. It is amazing what they can do to dirt in a very short time. The ground is now frozen, but has the appearance of recently tilled ground. A large uncomposted pile of straw and garden clippings was in the center of this area and is now spread about, barely recognizable. These pigs are fantastic.