Hamama Microgreens, Trial 2

Whoops… posting a bit later than planned this week. But instead of mourning the c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker of posting on Saturday instead of the scheduled Thursday, I instead bring you —

D-D-D-D-D-D-D-Daikon radish microgreens, courtesy of Hamama!

Yep, here we go again. After a disastrous first attempt at growing teensy little sprouts in a plastic tray, I persevered and tried again with a new quilt. While I’m not a fan of the actual daikon radish itself on most occasions, the description of “peppery and spicy” for these little guys enticed me enough to attempt to override my silly biases. All in the name of science, right?

Bill Nye would be proud of me, I think.

Just the mention of dear Bill made me want to put another animated GIF here, in his honor, but for the sake of everyone’s sanity I’m limiting myself to only one for this post. But, should you feel the rush of nostalgia from the PBS glory days and — in my case at least, and I know I’m dating myself here — watching Bill Nye: The Science Guy in middle school science classes, here you go. You’re welcome.

A quick documentation of the changes I made for the Trial 2 growing period:

• The quilt began next to the Aerogarden, but completely covered up until “peel day.”
• On “peel day,” I checked the water level to ensure it was at least hitting the bottom of the coconut mat.
• The cover was also permanently removed on “peel day,” leaving the sprouts open to the grow light of the Aerogarden.
• A list mist of water was given to the sprouts so they could, in the words of Hamama, “green up a bit.”

And now, friends and readers, I thus offer you the Gallery of Microgreen Greatness.

(Disclaimer: credit for aforementioned greatness in the above noted gallery goes entirely to the so named microgreens themselves, and decidedly not for the clumsy human being attempting to nurture them for eventual harvest and consumption in combination with other delicious things. Ahem…)

Day one commenced on Monday, 2/27. Not wanting to change too many variables at once, I kept the location of the tray next to the Aerogarden for the entire grow period, but I added the cover of the original tray packaging to act as a light shield. As in a shield against the light… although in terms of shielding, it’s also light?

The English language is so strange. I digress.

At any rate, here the little thing sat, though I checked for progress each day. Though I expected somewhat less disappointment from Trial One, nothing could prepare me for the truth.

In this image you see the result on day four, Thursday.

Uh-huhi. DAY FOUR. Those little seedlings were ready to rip from their quilt cells like… well. I had a really good comparison, but I don’t know how many of you have had lunch yet. Needless to say, this level of growth in such a short time impressed me.

After discovering this on Thursday morning, I figured that waiting until after work to peel the top layer of the quilt away would be more ideal, since the greens were still small and likely needed more water before being exposed to the grow light.

Peeling, as promised, proved plenty pleasing. Satisfying, even. It revealed a quilt full of sprouts, still young and yellow but with strong roots.

At this point I sprayed a light mist over the top of the shoots and added just enough water to the tray to reach the bottom edge of the coconut mat. “No further,” customer service told me, because though the roots do need water, too much will drown them.

Cool, got it, lesson learned from last time. Check mark. No finger shaking required.

Over Thursday night, these sturdy fellas Hulked right up, straightened their backs and began to proudly spring up towards the grow light. Hamama’s little grow card recommended waiting until they’ve grown to at least 3 inches prior to harvesting.

Yeah, about that…

You know that I plucked a few to taste already; come on, I’m sorta predictable and impatient that way. Blame my inner five-year-old self who refuses to grow up and sticks her tongue out at you when you catch her with her hand in the microgreen tray.

Without repeating too much of what Hamama has already said about these microgreens, I’ll simply leave it at “they taste exactly as advertised,” with the small yet necessary footnote that they’re addictive… and hard to walk away from without a clump clutched in your claws for later noshing.

Thus and therefore, trial two proved a resounding SUCCESS! Should the opportunity arise, I’ll post images of how I’m preparing these daikon radish greens with snacks and meals, provided I don’t simply eat them straight out of the tray before then.

Current Hamama score: 1/2.

Verdict: Feeling better than before, and I’ll keep working at it to figure out a consistent pattern for success.