The December holidays present a bit of a challenge for indoor gardens started in late fall. Although the grow light is on a timer, plants can grow and use up water quickly during a two week period. Therefore, many teachers start the garden in January.
At Mary Butterworth School, Ms Paul was looking for a short growing project in November or December that could be wrapped up before the holiday break. Her students grew radish microgreens in small containers near the Little Green Thumbs grow light, to harvest and put on top of “mini-pizzas”.
I had the pleasure of making a visit when it was time to harvest the microgreens and make the pizzas. The students cut and washed the small plants. They put some tomato sauce, pepperoni sausage and cheese to their liking on an English muffin and placed radish greens on top. Then Ms Paul baked the treats in a toaster oven. The students seemed to enjoy their lunch treat, and it was a great way to spark some conversation about growing food.
The microgreens project took some extra time, potting mix, containers, seeds and groceries to organize for the teacher, but within 8-10 days of planting, the radish greens were ready for harvest. While full sized vegetables take a little longer to grow, sprouts and microgreens are fast, nutritious crops to grow and enjoy, even without extra lighting.
Claudia Bolli, Little Green Thumbs
