Hi, I’m Andrew Neves, and this is Microgreens World.  Come with me on a journey, as we experiment and taste and learn about the latest on microgreens.

Since I can remember, I’ve always been mindful of my health. Well, sort of. I started smoking at 14 and quit at 30. I drink a glass of red wine every three or four days. And the day I quit smoking was the day I became a vegan. Can you believe such madness?

I played college and professional soccer. I retired, but still wanted to play; till I was 70, LOL!
I did read about Sir Stanley Matthews, the great English Soccer player. He played in the English top tier until he was 50 years old. He never smoked. He became a near vegetarian at 37 after an injury. And he has a soccer move named after him: the Stanley Matthews.

Interested in a better way of getting your nutrients?

For the past 25 years, I have gone from vegan to pescatarian. My youngest son, a vegetarian from birth to 14, is a 6’4″, 190lb soccer center forward. Yeah, elephants are vegetarians, and the planet’s largest mammals too.

Like to cook, and looking for some really delicious garnishes?

Our family dinners start with vegetables, grain, and whatever meat you want. Every meal has to have something “green” on it, and it’s not Jell-O, LOL!

Or you just want a few recipes to help spruce up an occasional meal?

Last year a friend introduced my wife and me to microgreens. They were flavorful and tasty on our evening meal. Then we started hanging out at some of the better restaurants in the city. Everyone, it seemed, was talking about these microgreens.

Have a small catering business and you wanted to add that elegant touch?

Microgreens are an emerging super food. They are a new food category poised to disrupt how we consume vegetables and move beyond its present role as garnishes in culinary arts.

Microgreens, tiny versions of leafy vegetables and herbs, have been described as healthier than full sized greens. So, do microgreens really contain more nutrients? Do they have other benefits?

Have a small restaurant, and ready to go upscale?

Also called “vegetable confetti”, they are grown in a similar way to regular vegetables and other plants. But they are harvested when the plant is no taller than 5cm, which takes about 1-3 weeks from when the seeds are sown. They are not to be confused with beansprouts or alfalfa, which are the young seedlings typically eaten whole within a few days, and usually grown in water.

Brassica, the family of plants that include broccoli, kale, and red cabbage, contains a very high concentration of sulforaphane. In peer-reviewed, double-blind, and placebo-controlled studies, sulforaphane displays many anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects.

Want to grow microgreens in your backyard, or basement, maybe?

Then my curiosity and scientific training (I have advanced degrees in Applied Mathematics) took over. I researched and read and read. The research showed microgreens were incredibly nutritious. The kinds of nutrients you got in a handful of arugula microgreens were more than 30 tablets worth of multivitamins.

Thinking about urban farming yourself, well, you can look forward to that too

I spent most of my early years on my grandaunt’s farm every summer. At the end of June, off we’d go, my sisters and me. Early to bed, early to rise was Nanna’s rule. We’d be up before dawn in the hen house gathering eggs. Then we’d go to the barn to grab corn to feed all the chickens. And Uncle John would help us milk the cows.

And by the time lunchtime came around, we were exhausted. Weeding the garden, and picking oranges can be hard, we thought. But the afternoons were ours, and we’d run with our cousins and friends in the field playing all sorts of games.

But I wasn’t about to farm microgreens. Or so I thought. My friend, Stephen showed me this hydroponic farming thing. He gave me some left-over arugula packets he had. So I went to the local store and asked about growing microgreens.

Well, no one knew except this one youngster; must have a part-time job. He pulled out his smartphone, and sure enough, there it was on YouTube, duh? So, he helped me get a couple of trays, some organic dirt, and off I went.

Want the latest research into microgreens?

And so began the journey. The first batch was awful, as I learned how to grow this stuff. It’s been several months now, and I’m eating my own harvest, Yes!

So, Microgreens World is your destination.

I’ve learned a lot about microgreens, how good they are for you, and what you can do with them. Check out my guide, “The Beginner’s Nutritional Guide to Incredible Microgreens.”

Love your greens. I love my greens!

 

Sincerely,

Andrew Neves
September 2019

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Keywords: Radish microgreens; Light exposure; Quality maintenance; Ascorbic acid; Total phenolics; Antioxidant capacity