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Microgreens Guru

The journal

The comparison series

Microgreens against the things they get confused with, and against each other. Every comparison names what was actually measured rather than repeating the claim that made it popular.

  1. A mesh lidded glass jar tipped on its side spilling pale alfalfa sprouts with tangled white roots and clinging seed coats, beside a shallow tray of broccoli microgreens showing bare cut stems, both on a worn kitchen counter photographed side on in flat daylight

    Part 1 of 7

    Microgreens vs Sprouts: The Difference Is a Cut, Not a Nutrient, and It Decides Which Federal Rule Applies

    A sprout is eaten whole, a microgreen is cut above its roots, and that cut decides whether FDA's sprout rule applies. The nutrition claim used to rank them was measured on mature vegetables.

  2. Three shallow trays of the same lettuce variety side by side on a worn potting bench, the first a dense low stand of cotyledon stage seedlings, the second taller with several true leaves, the third a widely spaced row of loose open heads, photographed side on at bench height in flat daylight

    Part 2 of 7

    Microgreens vs Baby Greens: Same Seed, Same Tray, and the Only Difference Is When You Cut

    These are harvest stages of one plant, not three foods. USDA and Maryland disagree on where microgreens end, 17 of 61 crops with a published harvest window break the day counts, and the yield result everyone cites is a density experiment.

  3. A shallow tray of harvested broccoli microgreens on a stainless bench beside a colonized sawdust block fruiting a cluster of gray oyster mushrooms, photographed side on at bench height in flat light, the block surface uneven and the bench visibly scratched and stained

    Part 3 of 7

    Microgreens vs Mushrooms: On Labor Per Pound the Two Overlap, and the Farm-to-Farm Spread Is 10.9-Fold

    Put both crops on labor hours per pound and they land on top of each other. The variation between mushroom farms is 10.9-fold, which is larger than any gap between the crops, so the operator decides this and not the crop.

  4. Six shallow trays of different microgreen crops lined up along a worn potting bench, deep purple red cabbage, feathery green cilantro, red veined sorrel, crimson amaranth, pale green daikon radish and tall pea, each a distinct color and canopy height, photographed side on at bench height in flat daylight

    Part 4 of 7

    The Healthiest Microgreens: Which Are Most Nutritious, and Why the Ranking Collapses

    Red cabbage leads vitamin C, red sorrel beta-carotene, cilantro the other carotenoids and green daikon radish vitamin E, all in one study. Converted to a real serving, first and third are 15 micrograms apart.

  5. A home-grown 1020 tray of microgreens on a kitchen counter next to a shop-bought clamshell of the same crop, the tray canopy uneven and the clamshell contents level and uniform, photographed side on at counter height in flat daylight

    Part 5 of 7

    Grow or Buy Microgreens? The Answer Is an Hourly Rate, and It Is $23.60

    Seed alone makes home growing look eleven times cheaper. Add medium, power, a failure rate and your own time at $20 an hour and the saving against the cheapest retail is 8 percent.

  6. A small boxed microgreen starter kit with its shallow tray and seed packets laid out on a counter, beside a full-size 1020 tray, a bag of coir and a jar of loose seed representing the do-it-yourself equivalent, photographed side on at counter height in flat daylight

    Part 6 of 7

    Microgreen Grow Kits Against DIY: The Cheapest Kit Is the Most Expensive

    Priced per unit of growing area, the ranking inverts: the $60 kit is the cheapest and the $20 kit is nearly the dearest. Against assembling it yourself, the sample runs 6 to 40 times.

  7. A small open jar of fine dark green powder with a measuring scoop resting beside it on a bench, next to a loose handful of the same crop still fresh and uncut, photographed side on at bench height in flat daylight

    Part 7 of 7

    Microgreen Powder Against Fresh: What You Gain, What You Lose, and What Nobody Can Tell You

    Sellers claim 80, 85, 95 percent or negligible loss. In the one broccoli study, retention ran from 4.42 percent for chlorophyll to 97.86 for potassium, a 22-fold spread. One number cannot describe that.