Garlic Greens

Microgreen trays can be used for more than microgreens!

The Heavy Duty Microgreen Trays are useful for more than just microgreens. Fitting snugly on a windowsill, they can be used to start plants in the spring, grow mint through the winter months, grow a lettuce plant, start some succulents…and many outdoor uses as well. One of our favorite uses is to grow garlic greens.

Don’t throw away old garlic cloves

Although we grow garlic outside in the spring and summer months, having fresh garlic greens during the winter months is fantastic. For those who do not have access to outdoor gardens, this is a way to bring the garden indoors- with no weeding!

We have all had those heads of garlic that we missed- and ended up with drying out cloves that are beginning to sprout. Don’t chuck them- grow them. Garlic is easy to plant and grow in a windowsill. While it won’t produce more cloves as it would in the outdoor garden, it will reward you with a good harvest of garlic greens for months.

How to grow garlic cloves on the windowsill

Fill the tray with a good-quality, well-draining potting mix. Separate the head into individual cloves and leave the skin on. Insert the garlic cloves into the soil, pointy side UP. Do not cover the tops of the cloves with soil.

Put the trays in a windowsill that gets at least 6 hours of bright light, or under a bright LED light (or grow light). If the garlic has already begun to sprout, edible greens will

Watering and Temperature

Garlic prefers consistently moist soil, but does not like to ‘swim’. Over-watering will cause rot.

Garlic grows well in cooler temperatures which makes windowsills the perfect place to grow them in the winter months. During warmer months, they will grow quickly and may ‘wear out’ the bulbs after 3 or 4 harvests.

Harvesting

Allow them to grow at least 6 inches high before harvesting. Harvest one green ‘leaf’ at a time from the cloves, leaving one inch of green. Always leave one leaf growing per clove to allow the plants to use photosynthesis to continue growing.

Using your garlic greens

Garlic greens have a milder flavor than garlic cloves. They can be used as a garnish or seasoning, or substituted for scallions,leeks, or chives in recipes. Garlic greens can be used to add to hors d’oeuvres, pasta, salads, and other dishes. Add them to avocado toast. There are many ways to use these greens- be creative and let us know in the comments how you have used them!