Garlic Chive Micro-Greens

One of the most gourmet crops in the world of sprouts A crop of Garlic Chives grown as Micro-Greens looks like a bunch of miniature scallions - or perhaps miniature chives is more correct in this case. Either way - they are visually stunning and they taste like Garlic.

Note: This is the same seed we sell for Garlic Sprouts.

Our Garlic Chive Seed comes from a source which is certified organic.

Note: We sell Garlic by the 1/2 pound.

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$27.75 / 1/2 lb.

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Growing Basics

Soak

no

The amount of time your seeds should soak in cool water. Soaking is how we begin the sprouting process in most cases.
Rinse / Drain

no

How often your seeds should be watered. Rinsing thoroughly and then draining as much water as possible are key components to growing great sprouts.
Plant

Day 2

Approximate time you will plant your crop if growing Grass, Greens, or Micro-Greens, after soaking your seeds. If your seeds do not soak they will get planted right off the bat.
Harvest

10 - 21 days

The time it takes to grow a finished Sprout, or other crop (Micro-Greens, Grass, Greens) from a dry Seed. Note: This "finished" Sprout is our preference. you may grow them for as long as you want! In fact, we suggest that you taste them at every rinse to discover when you like them best.

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Growing Instructions
Detailed Instructions
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Notes

Print Instructions

Plant 1-2 teaspoons of seed (for a 5x5 inch Tray) on thoroughly moistened medium.

Cover your crop with another tray, or a plate - to keep light out and moisture in.

Keep your medium moist by watering lightly as needed. Don't drench!
Use Coconut Coir and you likely won't have to water at all after planting!

When your plants have begun to show leaves, remove cover and move your crop to a well lit location.

Harvest when the leaves are open and an inch or three tall (day 5-14).

Cut just above the medium, with a scissors or sharp knife.

Print Instructions

Yields approximately three times as many Micro-Greens (by weight) as seed "planted"
We put quotes around Planted because the seeds are spread atop a medium - not planted under.

Planting

PLEASE read the contents of Notes Tab (to the right)
for variations and a whole lot more information.

Grow these on the ultimate medium -
Coconut Coir, soil, or a soilless medium like Hemp Felt, in a Compostable Tray - or for bigger crops you can use a 10x20 Tray, or another of our Growing Trays.
Or - grow them upon a flat Hemp Bag, or in our gorgeous Euro-Sprouter.

I know - too many choices. That's our biggest problem here at Sproutpeople. Choices!
So I'm going to tell you the way I (who has every possible option available) grow Micros.
I always use Coconut Coir!
I mix Earthworm Castings into my Coconut Coir for added nitrogen (which is very good for green plant growth), at a rate of 25% Castings to 75% Coconut Coir.
I grow in our Compostable Tray if I am going for Cotyledons (the first leaves), or
a 5x5 Nursery Tray if I want True Leaves.
The Nursery Tray is deeper - which gives the roots more room to grow - so the plants can grow bigger more easily.

Thoroughly moisten the Medium upon which you are going to grow.

Measure your seed
For a thick crop of Cotyledon (first leaf) Micro-Greens plant the larger amount. For bigger, True Leaf Micros plant the smaller amount.
Compostable Tray = 1 tsp. - 2 tsp.
5x5 Nursery Tray = 1 tsp. - 2 tsp.
10x10 Tray = 1 - 2 Tbs.
10x20 Tray = 2 - 4 Tbs.
Hemp Bag = 2 - 4 tsp.
Euro-Sprouter = 1 - 2 tsp.
If you are going for True Leaves you really must use a Growing Tray that is at least 2 inches deep - like our 5x5, 10x10, or 10x20 inch Nursery Trays.

Spread seeds as evenly as you can - all over your thoroughly moistened Medium.

Cover your crop: If you're planting in a 5x5 Tray use another identical tray - up side down. Same thing with other Trays. If using a Compostable Tray snap the clear lid on for the first 2-3 days. If using a Hemp Bag, or another medium - be creative. If it's on a plate then use an identical plate (upside down) as a cover. For the Euro-Sprouter - use the cover that comes with it. It is not mandatory when growing Micro-Greens to cover them at all. Experiment for yourself and see what works best in your climate/location. I cover.

Place your Micro-Garden in a low-light, room temperature location (70° is optimal).

Growing and Greening

Once germination occurs - keep the medium moist by watering gently or misting with a Spray Bottle every day or three. The deal with watering is that the deeper your medium, the less you need to water, and the plants won't require a lot of water until they get growing big - at which point you may need to drench the medium every day.
When using our Compostable Tray (which has no drainage) you can pour off excess water by tipping it.

Note: These amazing little plants have a unique root structure. They will show microscopic roots starting on day 2 or 3 or 4. They are called root hairs and are most visible just before watering - when the plants are at their driest. These root hairs impress many people as mold - but they are not. When you water your crop the root hairs collapse back against the tap root. Viola! No root hairs! Now you know. Isn't learning fun?!

When your plants grow up and begin to shed their hulls they are ready for light so move them (if necessary) to a well lighted location. If you go with sunlight - water more frequently. Room light will usually do quite nicely - and will not dry out your medium as quickly. One consideration here - if you are going for True Leaves you should definitely use sunlight in a warm place.
The most beautiful Micro-Greens we have ever seen were grown in a greenhouse in Burlington, Vermont (in summer) by our friends Spencer and Mara at Half-Pint Farm. Just had to mention that. They taught me and Lori a lot!

Keep the medium moist by watering regularly. Water from the side if possible to prevent injuring the tiny plants.

When your plants have open leaves which are green, they are done - unless you're going for True Leaves, in which case you need to keep watering and tending for another week or more.

Harvest

Cut the plants just above the medium upon which they have grown. During the final 8-12 hours minimize the surface moisture of your plants - they will store best in your refrigerator if they are dry to the touch. So if you water try to keep the water off the plants - just water the medium.

When you are ready to store them (I'll remind you that these degrade fairly quickly, so eat them instead of storing them if you can), if they are still damp - lay them between some paper towels or anything you prefer, and dry them very gently. Transfer your crop to a plastic bag or the sealed container of your choice - glass is good. We sell an amazing Produce Storage Bag that actually extends the shelf life of produce, if you're interested in the best of the best =;-) Whatever you store them in; put them in your refrigerator - if you must.

Great Job Sprout farmer!

Garlic Chives are the slowest of sprouts. As Micro-Greens they can be even slower - but they're worth it! They have an awesome flavor (assuming you like garlic =;-)! Your finished crop will look like Micro-Scallions. Very Cool!

Though it is actually a chive seed, it tastes just like Garlic. You can find Garlic in our Leafy sprout mixes - Italian Blend, and Mother's Mix as well. These are a very expensive crop. There is only one farmer we know of in the U.S. who grows this seed and is certified organic. Supply is always much more limited than the demand - hence the high price.

See our Notes Tab (to the right) and also on our Growing Garlic Chives page for details of all sorts.

All references to Garlic on Sproutpeople sites (or by any other sprouting seed supplier) refers to the seed produced by a Garlic Chive plant. Regular Garlic does not produce seeds - it produces bulbuls atop the leaves and bulbs below ground. Garlic Chive is virtually identical in flavor to Garlic. We’ve been getting our garlic chive seed from farmer Ed, in Illinois for many years. It’s always great seed, but this year is particularly good. It isn’t as fast to germinate as it has been but it grows more evenly and vigorously than usual. Seed Shelf Life: 1 year. Store in cool, dark, dry spot. Store in freezer to extend shelf life.

Ingredient Note

Seed Storage

Alliums have the shortest shelf life of any sprouting seed. Since they are also so painfully expensive we strongly suggest that you freeze your seed. The only concern is condensation. All you need to do to avoid condensation is to return the seed to the freezer within a few minutes - after you've removed what you need, to grow your current crop. Also, Keep them in any sealed container. A plastic bag is fine. Glass is better. You do not need to thaw the seeds - just go ahead and Soak.

Crop Note

These are very slow to grow when compared with most other Micro-Greens. When sprouting them, they can take 2 weeks - as Micro-Greens they can take even longer. It's hard to know when to stop with these. Mostly they just grow taller. These are Monocot plants (each seed contains one embryonic leaf - aka Cotyledon); initially the seed sends its root down, and its leaf up. It will grow additional leaves in a garden, and its roots will multiply as well, but as a Micro-Green it will likely grow no more than one leaf. Like all Alliums its leaves are long thin tubes that grow straight up. We plant these more densely than other Micro-Greens because the seeds are bigger than the tubular leaf they put out, and we like a nice big crop when we have to work this hard =;-)

Sproutpeople and Micro-Greens

We first grew Micro-Greens back in 1994. We were way ahead of the curve. Nobody was interested in them - not our farmers market customers, not our food stores (co-ops, natural food stores and grocery stores we delivered to every week), not our restaurants, nobody! That did change some as the years passed, but we were always Sprout People first. Frankly, we prefer Sprouts to Micros because we find them plumper and more texturally pleasing - but we keep working with them. Some seeds (especially mucilaginous seeds) won't grow as sprouts and Micro-Greens are SO gorgeous and offer a lot of unique and really cool possibilities.

Soaking and Pre-Sprouting

Though our instructions (in the Growing Instructions Tab - to the left) suggest these steps (for non-mucilaginous seeds), we have found them less and less necessary as we've worked with Micro-Greens. We skip both now, concentrating first on thoroughly moistening our medium. We then plant the seeds (which are just spread atop that thoroughly moistened medium), and mist them with a Spray Bottle. We then cover our planted seeds. We mist them with a Spray Bottle at least once a day until they sprout, and then bury their roots in the medium. During those first 3-5 days we are misting heavily, to keep the medium thoroughly moist as well as the seeds. We uncover the plants at different stages, depending on what we are doing with a particular crop. Keep reading to learn more.

Fertilizing Micro-Greens

When growing on a soilless medium like Hemp Felt or Tencel STG Pads it is advisable to use Liquid Kelp Feritlizer to give your plants additional nutrients to draw upon. When we use Kelp we dilute 1 tsp. in 1 quart of water (this is a higher concentration than the product label calls for). We use it in a Spray Bottle or by watering the medium directly. We use it every time we water. The perfect container for these soilless mediums is our inexpensive Compostable Tray. If you plant on soil - or better yet with Coconut Coir (our FAVorite), mix in 25% Earthworm Castings for the ultimate nutrient rich, moisture retaining planting medium. Mix them together thoroughly before moistening.

Micro-Green Variations Don't Apply to Alliums

There are varying opinions of what constitutes a Micro-Green. Traditionally it is just a plant grown to the Cotyledon stage, and cut above the medium upon which it is planted. When we grow to this stage; we either grow on Hemp Felt or soil (any kind will do). Hemp Felt is less messy and works fine and dandy. We cut a piece to fit a plate, then we follow our own instructions for keeping the medium and seeds-plants thoroughly moist. We use another of the same size plate - inverted - as a cover. We uncover our plants when they are about 1/2 inch tall, or when they are hitting the covering plate. We then expose them to all the light our kitchen has to offer. We even use direct sunlight when available. We have to water them more often when we do this. When it comes to watering, We mist them with a Spray Bottle until the seeds have firmly rooted. After that - when growing on a piece of Hemp Felt on a plate; pour water directly onto the plate. We gently tip and turn the plate so as much water as possible gets soaked up by the Hemp Felt, and then pour off most of the excess. When growing on soil; we continue to spray with the Spray Bottle, but we keep the medium moist by adding water directly to the plate or solid tray it is sitting on. We allow the medium to drink up what water it can, and then gently pour off the excess. Leaving a little water on the plate is fine - it will get sucked up before your next watering. If it doesn't, you are leaving too much water behind.

In the case of Alliums, the leaves are all the same. With all of our other seeds (with the exception of Peanuts), the plant that would be produced (if the seed were planted in a garden) bears its "fruit" above ground. As Alliums are Bulbous Plants, they grow a Bulb below ground. There will be no bulb in the case of Micro-Greens, but the nature of the plant this seed would become is such that it puts less energy into leaf growth. For that reason we don't grow these any more than to get them to the height we want. They'll not produce additional leaves soon enough to make them a candidate for a longer growing period. They are singular among our Micro-Greens for that reason.