November 23, 2024

Growing Microgreens in Singapore with the Kid

Growing Microgreens in Singapore with kids

Growing Microgreens is one of the easiest gardening activities which can be done in a Singapore apartment. It doesn’t need much space, tools and even soil. This is why I like growing microgreens with the kid in our Singapore home where I don’t have to bother about space for the plants.

Why I grow microgreens with the kid?

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Planting seeds with children is one of the activities that can keep them engaged in a gardening activity. I found gardening as an interesting activity to keep the kid engaged during the whole process. It is also a good way to connect with nature.Fortunately he loves such gardening activities too. So here is our latest gardening adventure with microgreens. Living in Singapore, we do not have much opportunity to outdoor gardening activities. However indoor gardening is always possible. Growing microgreens in Singapore is one of the easiest gardening activities we can enjoy while managing space for the plants.

Kid also loves and proud to grow his own food which we can use in a salad.

What are microgreens?

Growing Microgreens in Singapore

In case if you haven’t heard of, Microgreens are the small plants in the next stage of sprouting. Simply, microgreens are the plants with the first two leaves. According to researches these microgreens   contain a higher concentration of nutrients than sprouts or fully grown plants. This is why microgreens are popular as a healthy food for salads and other recipes.

Growing microgreens in Singapore with the kid

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Cowpea microgreens

Growing microgreens is not difficult. You even don’t need much space to enjoy your gardening activities when you grow microgreens. It can be a corner of the kitchen or near a window, find a place that receives some sunlight. And enjoy growing microgreens with your kids. They will be proud of the food they grew.

How to grow microgreens with kids?

Seeds such as carrot, pea, mung beans, mustard and arugula are popular as microgreens. There are many other seeds which you can easily grow to the microgreens stage. In this post I will feature cowpea as our microgreen which is also easy and fast to grow.

Below are the steps we followed in this gardening activity.

  • Soak a handful of cowpea seeds in water overnight. If you use another seeds type, consider its germination requirements.
  • Next day, prepare your pots with potting mix. Fill the pots with soil for about ¾ of it.
Growing Microgreens
  • Then spread the soaked seeds evenly on soil.
plant cowpea with kids
  • Add a thin layer of soil on top of the seeds to cover those.
  • Sprinkle water.
  • Your microgreen seeds are already planted. Now, watch them grow for the next 7 days.
  • Keep your pots near a window or a place where it gets some sunlight. Sprinkle water daily.

Usually most microgreens are with tiny first leaves. However cowpeas are with bigger leaves.

cowpea-sporuts

In about 7 days, these microgreens are ready to consume. Add in to a salad or any of your recipes and consume it.

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Our microgreens experience with cowpeas

After the gardening activity, I asked the kid to take care of his plants. He watched the germination process daily. It was his responsibility to take care of his microgreens. Therefore in the morning before go to the school and after he came from school, he watered his plants. He happily watched his plants growing.

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Our microgreens with cowpeas grew fast

Eventually I noticed he started talking to his plants. My kid was very good at pretend play and self-talking while playing from his toddler age. 🙂 It seems he did the same with his plant friends. I found it is good that he has his plants to engage time. Finally, he didn’t want his plants to add to any salad. He wanted to keep the plants even after the microgreen stage. Therefore our microgreen growing experience is going to be another story of growing plants at home. We enjoyed this activity much!

How about you? Do you grow plants with kids? Have you grown microgreens with kids? Please share your experience and thoughts.

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi is the founder of this blog. She shares her parenting and lifestyle experiences of raising a child in Singapore.

View all posts by Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi →

19 thoughts on “Growing Microgreens in Singapore with the Kid

  1. Kids love to be a part of things like this… My granddaughter is growing herbs with her dad and she really enjoys it.

  2. I have a garden every year. I’ve never tried growing microgreens before. I should give it a try though. I know they’re super healthy for you.

  3. This is such a beautiful and simple activity! We used to grow little seedlings and stuff like that with the kids when they were young, and they loved it – blessings!

  4. I love micro greens and what a great little guide. such a great idea doing it with the kids too as a family activity and to teach them how to be a green thumb. Love it!

  5. This has inspired me to teach my son how to grow fruits and veggies. It is important to teach them young and how to be sustainable.

  6. What an amazing thing to do with kids. We used to live in Kuwait and did this a lot. Now we have a garden and I always try to make my kids included in the process of growing our plants.

  7. Learn to grow microgreens with Microgreens SG.

    Some proceeds go to sponsoring elderly in homes with a basic starter kit

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