I invite you once again to step into my indoor salad garden! This time, it’s all about color. Once you have mastered the basic process I shared in the first Indoor Salad Garden video and are growing piles of delicious, fresh and crunchy greens for your kitchen, you might want to add some new flavors and colors!

I have 6 colorful new greens to introduce you to:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Purple kohlrabi
• Amaranth
• Purple radish
• Popcorn

You DON’T need to invest in special racks, flats, shelving, grow lights, or fertilizer.

Instead, you can use everyday items from around the house. You probably have almost everything you need to begin!

Watch the video and I’ll walk you through it step by step. If you’re new to gardening in the house, watch the first video first.

Click the pink button below to print the Supply List and 7-Step Guide.

Seed Suppliers

• Azure Standard (my affiliate link; qualifying purchases help me earn credit toward a future order)
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Sprout People
• High Mowing Seeds
• Starwest Botanicals

Broccoli

Broccoli sprouts are extremely nutritious – and also delicious! They are crisp, juicy and carry a mildly sweet broccoli flavor. Plant 1 teaspoon broccoli seeds per soup bowl.

“Broccoli sprouts contain 10–100 times higher levels of sulforaphane than mature plants, something that has been well known since 1997. Sulforaphane has a whole range of unique biological properties, and it is especially an inducer of phase 2 detoxication enzymes. Therefore, its use has been intensively studied in the field of health and nutrition.” NIH PubMed Central

Cabbage

Cabbage sprouts are so pretty! After a few days in a sunny window, they turn a bright chartreuse color which the photo doesn’t quite capture. The flavor is mild like the heart of a cabbage. Plant 1 teaspoon cabbage seeds per soup bowl.

The nutritional value of cabbage sprouts is similar to cabbage. The sprouts contain antioxidants, which are beneficial in fighting off diseases such as cancer. They also contain vitamin C and vitamin A as well as smaller amounts of trace elements, including sulfur and iodine.

Purple kohlrabi

Violet stems and fringed purple leaves of purple kohlrabi will delight you! The flavor is mild, nutty, similar to cabbage and other brassicas. Plant 1 teaspoon purple kohlrabi seeds per soup bowl.

Purple kohlrabi is replete with nutrients:

Vitamins A, B, C, E and K
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc
Carotene, Chlorophyll, Amino Acids, Trace Elements
Antioxidants
Protein: 30-35%

Garnet red amaranth

Shockingly pink stems and tiny green leaves with burgundy undersides will add a colorful pop of fuchsia to your salads! The flavor of amaranth is very mild and blends well with other greens as it does not call attention to itself. Plant 1 teaspoon amaranth seeds per soup bowl.

Amaranth is a good sources of carotenoids, proteins, including the essential amino acids methionine and lysine, dietary fiber and minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and manganese^5–16. Amaranth is also abundant in several pigments, such as carotenoids, chlorophylls, anthocyanins, ^17,18 and natural antioxidant phytochemicals, such as vitamin C, betacarotene and flavonoids.

Purple radish

Fast-growing radish greens come in a variety of colors. My current favorite is called Red Rambo and contrary to the name, it is not red – it is vivid purple! The flavor is mildly spicy, not harsh, and adds a lot of bulk to your salad bowl as it produces a generous “head” of “greens.” Another favorite is Hong Vit radish, with red stems and green leaves. Plant 1 tablespoon radish seeds per soup bowl.

Radish shoots have high phytonutrient density and like other sprouts or shoots, contain more nutrients than their mature counterparts.

Popcorn

This one might be a surprise to you – it was to me! Who would ever have thought that popcorn kernels, which are really seeds, could be grown to produce edible greens? I learned about growing popcorn shoots in Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke. (If you like to buy used books as I do, check out my favorite online seller of books both used and new using my link. We can both earn points towards free books!)

Popcorn shoots are grown in the dark, from start to finish, which takes about 7-10 days. I don’t know a lot about their nutritional value since they are not a common food, but I can tell you that the pale yellow color will perk up your salads and their sweet maple-y flavor adds a welcome touch of sweetness when the tender round “leaves” are chopped. Plant 1 tablespoon popcorn seeds per soup bowl.

How to eat your greens

Directions for harvesting and washing indoor-grown salad greens are included in the printable 7-Step Guide.

Get creative!

• Toss up colorful salads
• Stuff them in tacos and omelets
• Drop them in green smoothies
• Garnish sandwiches
• Stir into salads and stews as you serve
• Add to every plate, from breakfast to dinner!

Happy Indoor Salad Gardening! Even when it’s too cold or too hot to garden outdoors or if you lack a garden space, you can still grow all the fresh, delicious salad greens needed in your household by setting up your own indoor salad garden!

7 Steps to Never-Ending Greens with No Special Equipment

Even if you don’t have a garden space, you can grow a wide variety of lush, edible greens in your own Secret Salad Garden, indoors. You DON’T need to invest in special shelves, trays, racks, fertilizer, or lighting.

You can use simple, everyday items you probably already have around the house to grow a never-ending supply of greens.

Approach your indoor garden as a system rather than a one-time experiment and once you have implemented it, minimal daily maintenance – around 5 minutes – will keep your salad bowl full.

You will also have greens for tacos, sandwiches, stir fries, and to add any every meal you desire.

Watch the video ~ I walk you through the system, step by easy step! It is so simple and organized anyone can do it.

Click the pink button below to print the Supply List and 7-Step Guide.

Indoor Salad Garden Supply List

Before you begin: gather these supplies

• 4 small jars (baby food size or half-pint)
• Measuring spoons
• Small strainer
• 20-30 shallow soup bowls, depending on size of family and desired harvest
• Quality, organic potting soil (I use Happy Frog)
• Something to scoop soil, such as a sturdy 1-cup measuring cup
• 2-4 gallon-size containers or Ziploc bags
• Spoon, a regular spoon from your silverware set
• Old seed catalog, newspapers, paper towels, or napkins
• Wide, shallow bowl or 9×9 inch (23 cm) glass baking pan
• Water can with a narrow spout
• Small dot stickers, optional, + a pen
• Seeds (pea, sunflower, buckwheat, and radish; see list below)
• Jars of appropriates size to hold seeds
• Scissors
• Salad spinner, optional
• Window with a ledge wide enough to safely hold the bowls
• Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke, optional and highly recommended

Seed suppliers

• Azure Standard (my affiliate link; qualifying purchases help me earn credit toward a future order)
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Sprout People
• High Mowing Seeds
• Starwest Botanicals

Transfer your seeds to jars with lids for ease of use. 

Fill the gallon-size containers or Ziploc bags with potting soil. Add 3 cups of water, then cover with lids or zip to seal. Turn the containers a few times over the next few hours to evenly moisten the soil. 

Now that you have gathered your supplies, give them a home. I use a drawer and cupboard in my antique hutch in the living room. You can use a cupboard in your utility room, a shelf in the family room, or a plastic storage bin. 

Clear out a shelf or two in a cupboard to place your bowls once they are planted. More on that in Step 4.

Indoor Salad Garden: 7 Step Guide

Step 1 Soak seeds

We start with the easiest seeds to grow that will produce a reliable crop of greens in your indoor salad garden. Measure a tablespoon of one kind of seeds and place them in a small jar. Add water to fill, stir, and soak 6-24 hours at room temperature.

• peas
• sunflowers
• buckwheat
• radish

Step 2 Prepare paper caps

Tear off 2 pages of an old seed catalog (one with soft newsprint-type of paper, not a glossy one). Fold the paper into a shape that will fit the bowl and come up the sides to cover the surface of the soil and the seeds. Paper acts as the top layer of soil. Prepare four caps, one for each planting bowl. Place folded caps in a dish of water to soak.

Step 3 Sow seeds, place in the dark

Scoop pre-moistened potting soil into a soup bowl and gently pat it down, smoothing the surface to create an even surface for planting. Soil should be about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep. Repeat for remaining three bowls.

Rinse seeds, one kind at a time, in small strainer. Invert the strainer over the prepared planting bowl, and tap to dislodge seeds. Use fingers or the back of a small spoon to spread the seeds out evenly. It’s okay if they are crowded, but they shouldn’t be stacked on top of each other. Do not cover the seeds with soil. Do not add water.

Lift a paper cap from the water dish, let it drip back into the dish, then place it on the planted bowl right on top of the seeds. Press it in gently to allow the edges of the paper to come up the sides of then bowl. Repeat for remaining three bowls.

Optional: write today’s date on a dot sticker and place it on the pea bowl for reference.

Place all four planted bowls in a dark cupboard for 3-5 days.

Step 4 Move bowls to a window

When the seeds have sprouted and grown shoots 1-2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm) tall, move the bowls to a window. It does not need to be south-facing. Any window with a ledge wide enough to hold the bowls and light coming in will do. All four bowls may be ready the same day, or they may not. Check your cupboard daily and move them as they are ready.

Step 5 Water daily

Fill a watering can with a narrow spout with water and water the planting bowls daily. Average size soup bowls will need about 2-4 tablespoons of water each day.

Step 6 Harvest and eat

Brush your hand over the buckwheat and sunflower shoots to dislodge hulls. Pick off any that remain.

When shoots are 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) tall, they are ready to pick. Harvest before the shoots grow a second set of leaves – except for the peas, which will have multiple leaves and possibly curly tendrils.

Gather the greens in a bundle with your non-dominant hand and use clean scissors to snip the shoots off close to the soil. Place cut greens in salad spinner basket, if you have one, and wash with clean, cool water. Spin dry (or towel dry) and they are ready to eat!

Peas give 2-3 harvests, successively smaller each time, before the plants give out. The others are single harvest plants. Feed the root wad to chickens, ducks, rabbits, sheep, or the compost pile.

Step 7 Repeat

The beauty of this system is that it is duplicatable. You can keep soaking, sowing, growing, and harvesting greens as long as you want, as much as you want.

If you want larger harvests, plant more bowls. If you want a more continuous daily harvest, plant fewer bowls but more often.

For example, when our children were living at home, I planted 5-8 bowls every other day. Now with just two of us, I plant 6 bowls 2-3 times a week.

You can supply your household with its entire quota of fresh greens year-round or use this system to fill in when your outdoor garden is not producing. 

6 Helpful tips

• Watch my video tutorial where I walk you through the process multiple times if needed. Use the time stamps in the video description and in the pinned comment below the video to help you locate the information you need.
• Print the Supply List and 7-Step Guide using the pink button above.
• Gather all the supplies before you start.
• Get a copy of the book Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke.
• Keep planting and keep harvesting!
• See examples of incorporating greens into meals here, here, here, and here.

Happy gardening! May your harvest be bountiful!
Michele Pryse

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 51: December 24, 2022

What with the Christmas baking, chimney cleaning, and restarting the indoor salad garden we are as busy as Santa’s elves! What a busy and blessed week at Chocolate Box Cottage!

Indoor Salad Gardening

Let’s start with salad gardening. Growing salad shoots in cereal bowls keeps us in salad greens all winter, right up until the outdoor garden is producing.

Traditional “sprout” seeds like broccoli and peas join microgreen seeds, buckwheat and tendril peas. In about a week, they are ready to harvest with scissors.

By planting a batch of bowls every few days, the indoor salad garden keeps producing. Enjoy beautiful gourmet salads with just a little work.

Christmas baking

Looking for an easy, festive drop cookie?

Mix up a batch of Confetti Cookies; they’re simple, colorful, and fun! A delicious vanilla cookie batter is shaped in balls, rolled in sprinkles, pressed with a glass, and baked. The satisfying cake-like flavor of these cookies will grab you!

Granola is always a welcome gift. This batch of Pecan Promise Granola will be divided: 1 tray gifted and 1 tray kept.

There’s nothing quite like homemade pies for Christmas and it’s (almost) as easy to make two as one. One for Christmas Eve and another for breakfast on Christmas morning with coffee, tea, and cottage bacon (ham). See my recipe for Butter Pie Crust.

Miriam and I enjoyed an old-fashioned Christmas baking day which included these delicious apple pies and a batch of Confetti Cookies.

And since I was not planning to bake bread, I decided to use up the accumulated starter in my jars by making a batch of German Bread-Spice Crackers this week. What is bread spice? A mix of spices used in German breads; brotgewürz in German. It varies, but mine includes caraway, anise seeds, fennel seeds, celery seeds, and coriander seeds, ground to a powder.

I added most of the sourdough from the jars to the Ankarsrum mixer bowl, leaving enough behind to feed and maintain my starter. Whole grains were milled into flour in my KoMo grain mill, including whole wheat, spelt, rye, einkorn, and millet.

Cracker dough was rolled very thin – the thinner the better – then cut in squares with a fluted pastry wheel or crinkle cutter. Docking the crackers with a fork releases air bubbles. And don’t forget to sprinkle with salt! I don’t have an exact recipe for these, I go by feel.

Sam’s projects

Samuel has been mysteriously busy in the barn. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but I am sure it will be good. We agreed to give each other practical gifts this year, and I asked for a pantry makeover, while Sam hinted at a backpack leaf blower. The “economy” leaf blower he has been using for years is giving out – it’s requires tinkering each time he wants to use it.

We both could use new wheelbarrows. A stout metal one for Sam, capable of hauling firewood, hot coals, rocks, dirt, and manure; a plastic one for me, to tote compost, potted plants, and garden harvests to the kitchen for preserving.

Samuel climbs the ladder to the roof for several tasks: blowing leaves off, cleaning out gutters, and cleaning the chimney.

In addition to cleaning the chimney, Samuel disassembled the stove pipe, carried it outside and cleaned it out; vacuumed out the elbow in the brick chimney; emptied the wood stove of ashes; cleaned the glass window.

Christmas Tea

Weekly tea at Mom’s took on a Christmasy theme this week. Granddaughters Miriam and Savannah + Emberly joined us for non-alcoholic Holiday Wassail, homemade clam chowder, fruit salad, carrot sticks, and Confetti Cookies. So thankful to have Mom and Rolly to celebrate with.

Gift baskets

I whipped up a triple batch of Maple Vanilla Syrup and added jars to a couple of Christmas gift baskets. This basket for my son Clayton includes Hot Cocoa Mix + a bottle of mint extract, dried Paragon pear slices, Pecan Promise Granola, gourmet coffee, Vanilla Lace Pear Jam, Vanilla Maple Syrup, Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde, and a half gallon jar of Goldenkraut (not pictured).

This Christmas gift basket for my sister’s family includes a full dehydrator batch (9 trays) of blackberry applesauce fruit leather along with a variety of pear preserves: dried, jam, and butter + Crock Pot Apple Butter + Maple Vanilla Syrup nestled in paper shreds in a thrift shop picnic basket.

Fermentation

I finally got around to straining my made-from-scratch Persian basil vinegar. It tastes and smells delightful and the color is captivating! After straining the herbs out, the resulting young vinegar was transferred to a boiled jar with a lid to complete fermentation.

In about a month to 6 weeks it will be ready. I can already envision Persian basil vinegar used in salad dressings and marinades for meats and vegetables.

Christmas Eve dinner included Old World Roast Beef and Vegetables, like my Grandma used to make. The roast is first soaked in clabber or cultured buttermilk for 1-3 days, then drained and baked with root vegetables.

I love this spattered yellow and white enamel roaster! I use it for roasting meat and veggies and for baking bread.

Family pictures

Bookshelf

In honor of Christmas, I encourage you, dear reader, to read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Bible. You’ll find it in Luke chapter 2. Like many families, we cherish the tradition of reading this story every Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, dear reader! I wish and pray for God’s best for you this Christmas and in the coming year.

Blessings,
Michele and Samuel

Note: This post contains links to products and vendors I use and appreciate for their quality and usefulness. Some are affiliate, some are not. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases when you use the links I provide; this does not change your price.