The only thing better than sipping on a bowl of fresh greens is drinking it from a growing kit. But did you know you can grow your favorite vegetables without all of the work? It’s easy, fun, and good for you too! You’ll love eating microgreens grown at home in your kitchen garden.

The secret to growing microgreens indoors is to start them indoors in growing trays inside a greenhouse. The water does most of the work so there’s no pesky green thumb needed! Now, you can easily grow your tasty, tangy, and spicy salad mix, hydroponic microgreens from non-GMO seeds in your own kitchen, with self-simmering, hydroponic growing trays. And they won’t drain your wallet either! Indoor vegetable seeds are much cheaper than buying whole organic vegetables at the grocery store.

As you wait for those wonderful, healthy crops to mature, make sure to clean out the trays every few days. The leaves and stems will collect on the bottom and will smolder if left to accumulate. The trick is to empty the tray before the crop is harvested. Harvest the crop when it’s just starting to open in the middle or about 10 days old. Your harvest will be thickly clustered, but this is a sign that the microgreens are doing their job!

Harvesting and pruning may take more time than planting, but you don’t have to wait. If you harvest too early, the sprouts will be too small to see. But, pruning late in the season will stunt your microgreen production. In between harvests, clean out the trays or containers and keep the microgreens moist. Be sure to dry the leaves thoroughly after cleaning them. Never hang dry green leaves upside down, because this encourages fungal infections.

Now it’s time to harvest the microgreens! There are two simple steps: first, grab the main stalk of each plant and pull. Second, hang the plants upside down from a hook on the wall or door. This way, the plants will be lifted off the floor and hung upside down, allowing any excess moisture to drain away.

Now it’s time to prune! Use sharp scissors to trim dead and weak branches away from the main stalk. Pruning will allow you to harvest the microgreens more quickly. Do this step in two or three weeks while the crops are still growing. It doesn’t take long to prune. However, you should do this step every two or three growing seasons, or at least every two or three harvests.

After pruning, it’s time to move the tray into place and fill with sterile growing medium. The tray won’t get too dirty, since the microgreens are small. Place a sheet of your favorite print or cut paper on the bottom of the tray. On the top of this paper, place your seeds and the sawdust from the spool.

When planting, it’s important that you don’t use too much or too little sunflower greens growing medium. The kit comes with enough medium so that planting will be just a couple of inches tall. If you don’t have enough growing medium, don’t hesitate to add some more during the season or add seeds just before you plant. Another great idea is to use a vegetable garden planter to hold all of your plants. Your veggies will grow big and beautiful even without sunlight.

Planting – The first few weeks after planting your greens are going to be hot and dry. This heat is actually necessary to germinate your seeds. It also helps to give your plants some needed room to grow. Check the pH test strips in the kit. You’re going to need a high pH reading to get your plants started off on the right foot.

Harvest move – After the third week of growing, the third week of harvesting is when you’ll see the best growth. Your greens are now on their way to being harvested. Make sure to move them to a shady place for harvesting right after pruning. This will help them stay healthy during shipping and storage.

Harvest – At this point, you’ll have just about ready to harvest your microgreens. However, you still need to wait until the last week of the summer season or the first week of fall before you can pick up your plants. This ensures that they are fully dried before you move them. You can place your microgreens on your kitchen windowsill, inside a dark pantry, or hang them upside down in an unheated closet. Wait for them to dry in the sunlight. When they feel wet, put them in a cool, dark place like a basement or storage closet.