June marked the end of our 4-H club year and was full of fun in-person outdoor activities.
The month began with our bike repair and fishing workshop, then all families gathered for an outdoor achievement day on June 19 to celebrate our year, and we held our final Microgreens workshop at the end of June.
Microgreens are basically sprout’s cousins.
They are cultivated using a growing medium and trimmed at the base of the roots before being eaten.
They are a perfect crop to grow all year round because they take up little space, are grown indoors and can have four to 40 times the nutritional value of full-grown plants.
We were taught how to plant them and were given supplies to continue planting at home.
Step one is to fill a growing tray that has holes in the bottom half full of soil, moisten the soil and then cover the surface with seeds. You water the seeds with the spray bottle until moist and put another tray underneath to keep the water in. Water them with the spray bottle occasionally so everything stays moist and once they start developing roots, cover them up and water from the bottom tray. Once they grow several inches you uncover them and let them get sunshine for two to three days before harvesting.
We were given Sunflower, Pea and Radish seeds. I planted peas.
We were able to taste them and my favourite out of the three were the radishes because they taste just like a full-grown radish. I found it interesting that I could eat a plant when it isn’t fully grown so am excited to plant some more at home.
Now that summer is here, the next time our club will meet is at our open house at Balzac Hall on Sept. 17th.
Joel Nielsen is the club reporter for the Prairie Winds 4-H Club.
