Meet The Seedlings

Whether I'm gardening outdoors or inside my house, one of my favorite things is to watch the plants grow, and this is especially true when checking for those first stages of sprouting. It's impressive. Each seedlings' growth is completely unique. The group below are all microgreens from the same seed package, planted on the same day and given the same environment (including their rock wool house, vermiculite cover, water and light); and yet look at their rates of growth in five days time. There are height variations and density differences. And although their growth may not be "perfectly aligned" with one another, I'm predicting most, if not 100%, will eventually sprout when ready. Kind of like us ;)

While the microgreens will be trimmed and added to smoothies and salads while little, most of the plants below are intended for larger growth. The spots they fill on the tower garden have little net pots that they sit in, not only allowing roots to grow through to access water easily but to also create support and stability for the plants to reach full potential. Because of this, you may notice the microgreens on the bottom right of the grid do not sit in a net pot.

So, who do we have here?

(If you want to see what they look like starting out, begin at the top of the picture grid and follow across row by row.)

1. Little Gem Lettuce - selected for its size, heat tolerance, and proposed "Best Tasting Lettuce" title holder

2. Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce - selected for its popularity, its history (traced back to the 1870's), and its proposed sweet, tender leaves

3. Romaine - selected for its durability, taste, and overall excellent prolific performance during my last grow season

4. Swiss Chard 5-Color - selected for its proposed colors and mild taste, hopefully it does as well as its rainbow chard relative

5. Scarlet Kale - selected for its proposed deep red color, rich flavor, and nutrient density

6. Oregano - selected in my efforts to replicate a season in which my parents produced, harvested, dried and had a ridiculous amount on hand

7. Basil - selected based on prolific growth last season

8. Rainbow Chard - selected based on previous season's results

9. Merlot Lettuce - selected for its proposed title as "Darkest Red Lettuce" (and related nutrient density), as well as crispness

10. Tiny Bok Choy - selected for its ability to join many dishes and because its big brother gets all the attention

11. Mizuna - selected for its unique contribution as a pink "green", its nutrient density and because I think I've never tried it before

12. Peppermint - selected for mojitos (and I guess tea), but also because a couple peppermint varieties absolutely took over sections of my parents' yard - I'm curious to see what it does in the tower garden

13. Black Magic Dino Kale - selected for its name, obviously; and also because it was quite prolific last season

14. Cilantro - selected mostly because I often feel like I just need a small handful at a time

15. Microgreen - selected because the entire top section of the garden is intended for their growth - if given a choice I'd have opted for two more netted pot sections and a ridiculously tall garden

Seeds Start Here!