Growing your salad greens is basically divided into two groups, the Bulk group and the Flavour group.

The Bulk Group:- consists of fast growing vegetables that can be re-sown frequently, we generally refer to these as sprouts, there are basically two ways of sprouting.
Vertical Sprouts are grown in shallow trays, generally 2-3 weeks, they are allowed to grow into a green leaf stage, this is probably the most nutritious method especially when you are fertilising with a high-quality liquid seaweed concentrate + trace element rich rock dust like Azomite and Dolomite and Probiotic Living microorganisms. This is the same principle for growing wheat grass but instead of juicing the grass we are eating the leaves.

The best vegetables we have found for this are the Radish 1.5wks and the Pea family, we supply 2 types of peas, the one that you see in supermarket, labelled as a Snow pea with just a couple of leaves and a long stem, this is actually a Field pea 1.5wks, the advantage of the Field pea is that it is cheaper than the Snow pea 2.5wks and is harvested from 1-2 wks. The other pea is a dwarf variety of Snow pea that is best left for 2.5 wks, the advantage of this variety is that it will produce a large group of deep green leaves, this is basically 3 to 4 times as much as the Field pea, however it does take longer and costs more, see the first line of pictures for a comparison. I eat a lot of salad so I plant 4 x 475mm rect. trays twice a week (2x Radish and 2x Snow pea), planting takes about 10 minutes. If you haven't eaten them, just cut them and store them as shown in the picture, cut fresh and stored this way, they will last up to a week in the fridge with minimal deterioration. Radish also adds a bit of a bite to your salad, it grows very easily and prolifically, I cut it once around the edges, this allows the centre section to grow a little bit longer and produce larger leaves, in a few days filling up the same space, new research has also indicated that the Radish sprouts has even greater anti-cancer properties then Broccoli.

The other sprouts that I grow this way are Mustard, Cress and Broccoli. Mustard is one of the cheapest sprouts it grows extremely quickly, is ready in a 1.5wks, and personally I love that little bite that it adds to your salad. I mainly put these in here because they grow as vertical sprouts but they are more a garnish than a bulk as you don't get nearly the same leaf quantity from them as you do with the Radish and the Snow-pea.

What you want from your vertical sprouts is lots of leaves, to achieve this especially with the Snow-pea and Radish, you need lots of light, meaning you need a sunny window, or as I do grow them under low powered LED lights, see> IVG-S1 & IVG-S2 these give you great results all year round, the lights will last for at least 5 years.

see> Sprouting Kits

Loose Sprouts are where you soak & wash seeds morning & evening for 3-7 days & then eat. The best device that we have found for this is a colander with as small holes/slots as possible. Soak (in nutritious rich seaweed solution), rinse, drain and cover with a tea towel, or sprout cover, is the simple procedure. There are many seeds that can be done this way the ones we have found to be the easiest & most rewarding are a mixture of Fenugreek, Alfalfa, Radish and Broccoli. If stored correctly, can be kept fresh for up to 7 days. (What we mean by correctly is basically that they are nutrient rich i.e. they have been soaked daily with seaweed solution, therefore they have lots of energy to stay alive, and they are stored, not too wet, inside a cotton bag or tea towel, inside a sealed container). I am not going to go into all the wonderful health benefits of each of the sprouts as this is covered elsewhere. The other sprout that I grow this way and I would say is the easiest and quickest of all sprouts, is the Chick-pea, this is a one night soaking and one-day drying process, then stored inside a paper towel in a sealed container in the fridge, where they will continue to grow ever so slowly for up to 2 weeks. This is a very important sprout especially if you're working towards eating less meat, the reason is that it is rich in protein, and has a crunchy texture so it's great for adding to your salad or your salad sandwich, you can even add it to your muesli. Another sprout that is really cheap and productive is the green Lentil, it has a wonderful nutty texture and is available for eating and storage after 3 days, it doesn't store quite as well as the other ones as it is harder to separate the un-sprouted seed from the sprouted, it just means that you need to quickly pick out any that are starting to go off before you add them to your salad. Anyway it's all pretty simple stuff and explained in the instructions that come with the kits.

see> Sprouting Kits

The Flavour Group:- consists mainly of herbs grown outside or inside using IVG-S1 & IVG-S2 that will grow for many months, generally you only need a few of the choicest leaves to add that interesting collage of flavours. In the first picture we have two types of Basil, the normal broadleaf Basil is growing in the same pot as Thai basil, which has a slight lemon flavour, followed by that we have Italian parsley and in the two hanging baskets we have Marjoram & Oregano.  In the two pictures next to it we have Coriander and normal Mint.  In the next two pictures we have Vietnamese mint and of course Rocket lettuce. Growing herbs is generally quite easy, the main trick is to either pick the caterpillars off regularly or spray once a week with garlic spray. If you had to pick just a few essential salad herbs I would suggest traditional Mint, traditional broadleaf Basil, Rocket lettuce (Arugula), small leaf Spinach, Marjoram and curly Kale. see> Seeds

More and more I am growing these herbs inside in my lounge room under low powered LED lights IVG-S2, I am finding it much easier and less time-consuming, growing outside seems to be a never-ending competition with nature, not to mention the need to check each leaf for living creatures before I chop it up and put it in my salad, none of this is an issue when growing them inside. Unless you introduce something from outside i.e. most potted herbs you bring home from the market will have some insect eggs in them or on them so best to give them a liberal spray of Pyrethrum. The only real problem I have had is with the occasional outbreak of aphids, but again just take your plant outside give it a good spray with pyrethrum, do this at the end of the day and then bring it back inside next morning.

see> Pyrethrum
Select the Products tab above for a quick visual guide to the various product categories.
 
For More Info. Click On-> Vertical Sprouting in Trays and Benefits of Wheatgrass.pdf or Loose Sprouters for Alfalfa, Fenugreek, MungBean etc.pdf

If you would like to attend a training course on how to prepare live food which also incorporates step-by-step instructions on sprouting using the systems seen on this website, you can visit this website http://consciouschoice.com.au/classes.