Fresh Microgreens, seasonal - all through the seasons – from the New Forest

Seasonal eating is wonderful – the first asparagus in spring; heavy, ripe, sweet, dripping beefsteak tomatoes in summer; berries in autumn; and squash in winter… That's how we get what is fresh and local – no cold storage deteriorating flavour, no miles trucking food across the planet, just healthy local economy, and growers given the pleasure of feeding their communities.

But local microgreens are an 'every-season' hack – fresh and local, packed with vibrant flavour and nutrition all year round. Why? How? Because we can grow them efficiently in a controlled environment – dodging summer drought or winter cold and providing an every-plate staple of plant based goodness reliably and locally all year round.

Of course you might shift your ordering preferences with the seasons if you feel it suits what you cook through the year… opting for more 'Spicy' mix or earthy broccoli and red cabbage with your winter fare; more 'Mild' mix with its aromatic coriander through the spring and autumn; more 'Complete' mix with its basils for summer. But we find the inherent variety suits our eating all year round, and value the diverse nutrition that we want to be constantly available for our bodies whatever the season - and love our favourite pack of all three!

So consider getting aboard the micro green hack train and smugly enjoy the full range of micro herbs and veggies 'seasonally' all year round, fresh and local, alongside the joy constantly emerging seasonal foods from the outdoors. We'd love to be sowing, growing, cutting and delivering them to you from Lightfoot's Farm in the New Forest!

Microgreens in Professional Kitchens: Elevating Culinary Excellence

From pub grub; delightful cafes, to fine dining establishments around the world, microgreens have become an indispensable ingredient. Their delicate leaves, concentrated flavours, and stunning visual appeal make them perfect for professional culinary applications.

Whilst fine dining chefs carefully place a leaf or two with tweezers on their crafted plates, cafes and pubs use larger portions of 2-5g each which represent full portions and deliver vibrancy in a flash to delight customers. Microgreens elevate every meal and communicate quality and care to customers through the eyes even before smell and taste seal the deal of a top scoring meal.

Chefs love microgreens for their intense flavour and effortlessness of use. Pound for pound, microgreens deliver more concentrated flavour than mature plants  and nutrition studies back that up too: a 2012 University of Maryland study found microgreens can carry 4 to 40 times the vitamin C, E, K and beta-carotene of the same plant at full size¹. From soups and salads to plated entrees and garnishes, or as portions on light nutritious lunches as well as for traditional hearty meals, microgreens work across every course and cuisine style.

Lost and undervalued dropped into larger mature-leaf salads microgreens offer their greatest value used as a salad or vegetable in their own right, and are as wonderful as a salad, very simply dressed, or in place of traditional vegetables for mopping up jus and paired with hearty food.

Microgreens first became popular in the 80s, notably with pea shoots, which have become very widespread, but the range has developed and more nutritious, interesting textures and 'architecture', colours, and flavours, now offer options for pairing with every dish. Aromatics like coriander for Asian cooking; crunchy, nutty sunflower shoots are versatile and more substantial; fresh tasting rocket lightens and cuts with heavier foods; radish 'seasons' and enriches strong protein-rich flavours; red cabbage, broccoli and cavolo nero provide nutrition, interest and flavour with soups and traditional hearty meals; and mixes offer options for every meal that even stand-in chefs can quickly, confidently apply for fantastic food in cafes and finer restaurants alike. Our 'Complete Salad' mix for example is a main component in its own right - a composed salad finishing delightfully a dish of a slice of sourdough bread with a protein for a quickly plated, wonderful course.

¹ Xiao, Z. & Wang, Q., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2012, University of Maryland.

Growing microgreens at home - the ultimate zero miles micro-garden

We love sowing and growing fresh microgreens for you here at Lightfoot's Farm in the New Forest; but we can't help but share our growing knowledge and love to see others join in - we even sell a grow kit and seed and soil refills!

From a 20x10cm windowsill box, to a full rack, a few seeds sprinkled on a low-nutrient compost or coco coir can give you the pleasure and therapeutic benefits of growing, the company of plants, and the freshest of zero miles food in your own home.

We even sell kits, and seed and soil refill kits to help! So what do you need?

• A growing medium - composts prepared from wood materials like sylvagrow; or coco coir work, they should be low fertility and 'sterile', or close enough.

• A tray with holes and one without (to catch the drips)

• A lid for the first few days (an upside down base-tray is perfect)

• Untreated seeds

• Water (just from the tap is perfect)

• A warm sunny spot that isn't too humid (and don't worry if its a little cool - they'll just take a bit longer)

How is it done?

Level your compost in the tray with holes; moisten it with water; sow your seed thickly but evenly; puff a little more water from a spray bottle; cover and leave in the dark for a few days.

Uncover and set in a warm light place.

Watch the magic happen and cut when you simply can't resist - just about as they begin to think about setting a first true leaf is perfect.

Is it for me?

Of course! It's the most natural thing to sow a seed and watch it grow, our senses evolved with close connection to plants - our survival depends on it! Research shows a host of ways it does us good to grow and have plants for company - the colours, the volatiles that enter our blood stream and nourish us by simply passing by and breathing them in; the mindful distraction; the oxygen they give us to breathe as we breathe our carbon dioxide to make them grow; and the nourishment of the freshest of harvested plants.¹

How much will I get?

If it's volume and diversity you're after, or even if you want the cheapest option, then we can do it for you! But for a little extra on the occasional meal home growing is perfect. We can grow more cheaply because of our bulk supplies and optimised conditions; and it's easy for us to pack 15 varieties into the three mixes pack that we deliver. But a 20x10cm tray should give you 30g of most varieties within a couple of weeks and brighten up a windowsill and we'd suggest you consider buying a 'bulk' bag of seed for a variety or two of 200g-500g each rather than small packs of just a couple of grams that don't go very far.

References

¹ Health effects of plants, light, and natural elements of biophilic interventions in confined settings: a systematic review, Frontiers in Physiology, 2025. Link