Quick Start Guide to Year-Round Greens

Cold temps and snow don’t have to mean the end of fresh greens! Follow this quick start guide to year-round greens for fresh salad greens in just a couple of weeks.
The following is an excerpt from Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke. It has been adapted for the web.
I teach gardening, and there comes a point in each class when I see smiles and nodding heads and I get the question, “Why haven’t I heard about this before?”
When people get it—the idea and how simple it is—they realize they can do this: They can grow a garden indoors. Indoor salad gardening is honest-to-goodness easy. Those moments when I see the light come on for people have special meaning for me. I remember when I first realized the same thing.
Get Ready Guide
To Plant Five Trays You Will Need:
Five 3-inch by 6-inch (7.6 x 15.2 cm) trays (aluminum foil, half-loaf bread pans) or similar, such as five 6-inch (15.2 cm) ceramic cereal bowls
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1 gallon (3.8 L) soil mix (standard germination mix), usually peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and lime
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5 tablespoons (74 ml) compost, one per tray (commercial or homemade compost)
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3 teaspoons (14.8 ml) liquid sea kelp mixed with water, or 3 teaspoons (14.8 ml) dry kelp meal (use ⁄12 teaspoon per tray)
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1 tablespoon (14.8 ml) each sunflower, pea, radish, and buckwheat seeds
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1 teaspoon (4.9 ml) broccoli seeds (you can substitute Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, or any Brassica)
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A stack of newspapers—one full sheet per tray (you can substitute paper towels, newsprint packing paper, or paper napkins)
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Quick Start Guide
Soak the seeds in small cups covered with plenty of water.
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Add 4 cups (947.2 ml) water to the soil mix and set aside.
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Wait a minimum of 6 hours for the seeds to soak.
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Fold newspaper to serve as covers, each just a little larger than the tray.
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When seeds are ready to plant soak folded newspaper covers in water.
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In the bottom of each tray mix ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) of kelp and 1 tablespoon (14.8 ml) of compost.
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Fill the trays with about 1¼ cup (296 ml) 7 moistened soil mix.
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Level the soil, leaving about ¼ inch (0.6 cm) to top of tray for seeds and paper cover.
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Drain water from seeds with small strainer.
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Spread moistened seeds over soil so they touch but do not overlap each other.
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Press soaked newspaper cover into tray so it is in contact with the seeds.
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Place planted tray in a warm, dark place for 4 days.
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On day 5 remove cover, water tray, and place on a well-lit windowsill.
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Once a day water with about 2–4 tablespoons (29.6–59.2 ml) per tray.
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After 3–4 days of growth and greening in the light, harvest shoots with scissors.
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Wash harvested greens, and remove any remaining hulls.
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Chop greens into ¼-inch to ½-inch (0.6–1.3 cm) pieces and toss in a salad.
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Add dressing and enjoy
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