Eating edible microgreens such as romaine lettuce, beets, spinach, and red chard is one of the healthiest ways to get more greens into your diet. Why? Because eating more leafy greens can help you lose weight, lower your blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, lower your risk for cancer, and improve your digestion. But what if you do not have a lot of time to garden and you don’t want to buy or grow seeds? Luckily you can make your own edible microgreens.

It is actually quite easy to make your own edible leafy greens. All it takes is about a half pound of frozen tender leaves of alfalfa or cabbage. You can soak these leaves in water overnight and then chop them up in the morning. Using a sharp knife, cut the microgreens crosswise into eight equal pieces.

Now here’s how you prepare those tiny little vegetables. For each quarter pound of microgreens, mix four to six stems of kale or cabbage into the pot. Fill the bottom of the pot with two to three inches of water. Leave the microgreens sitting in the water for about two hours. Once they are tender enough, remove them from the water and rinse them under cold water, drain them, and put them on a plate.

Now it is time to get started on your microgreen planting. Place a good base of well rotted and washed rind green leaves in the bottom of the pot. Add about one inch of wet leaves in the bottom of the pot. Fill the rest of the pot about an inch higher than the roots of the green vegetables. Do not fill the pot more than an inch over the vegetables.

The reason we say you’re growing them like you would any vegetable is because you can remove the leaves at any time and enjoy them fresh. Your choice in vegetables for eating microgreens are kale, cabbage, lettuce and squash. When you’re planting the microgreen, make sure they are placed in an area where they will have room to grow. The ideal growing area is about six to twelve inches away from the main part of the vegetables.

Now that you have the microgreens planted, make sure they get the right amount of light. As the plants grow you will need to check them frequently to see if they are getting the nutrients they need. Keep in mind that different plants require different amounts of sunlight. You should make sure the lights are going to be adequate for the plants you are growing. If you place the microgreens too close to the sunlight they will become burned, this does happen more often than you might think.

Once the planting has been completed, it is very important to water the plants regularly, no matter how much you may have watered them when they were younger. As your plants mature you will find that they need even more moisture in order to thrive. The best edible microgreens are grown in a sunny and well drained area. The reason for this is that it will allow them to reach their full potential.

As you can see from all of the information contained here, growing edible microgreens is not as hard as some people make it out to be. With a little patience and knowledge you will be able to produce delicious edibles for your family to enjoy. When choosing edible greens like kale, be sure to choose one that has less processing and higher nutritional value. These types of vegetables are not only delicious but healthy as well.