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Miniature Garden
A beautiful little sprouter, just for Micro-Greens.
Perfect for mini crops of gourmet Greens at home or even at the "office"!
Miniature Garden Info
Miniature Garden Description
Seeds to Sprout on the M.G.
Sprouting Instructions
Miniature Garden Assembly
Additional Notes
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Sprout School & Shop Sprouting Seed Info Center
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This is a French sprouter which we've been searching for for some time. One of our favorite customers sent us his to try out. We fell in love with it - searched for and found a supplier so we can now offer them to you.
This sprouter is totally unique! It is small and so, more for fun than for serious production. It comes with 4 small bags of seed from the manufacturer, reinforced felt pads which don't hold up well over time, but we sell replacement pads and are now selling an inexpensive disposable planting medium called Baby Blanket. If you want to grow bigger crops of Micro-Greens you should look at the Hemp Bag and at our selection of Trays - which can also be used with Baby Blanket for serious production!
The Miniature Garden measures 5 inches x 4 1/2 inches.
It has 4 trays which have absorbent pads in them (the pads are 3 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches). The trays slide into the main structure, for storage, and out for growing.
Capacity: 2 Teaspoons of dry seed per tray
Eat More Sprouts + Grow More Often!
The Miniature Garden
This Sprouting Device is made for just one thing!
The Perfect match for the Miniature Garden:
Micro-Greens - Any very small seed can be grown into a plant (when it buries it's roots in something and we harvest the crop by cutting, we call it a plant). Here are a few of the seeds that you can use to grow Micro-Greens on the Miniature Garden:
Note: Some of these very small seeds form gel sacks around themselves when they come into contact with water. You NEVER Soak these seeds when using them alone. They are called Mucilaginous:
Cress, Arugula, Flax, Chia, Basil, Rape (Canola).....
Other small Non-Mucilaginous seeds which can be used on the Miniature Garden and which can be Soaked and even Pre-Sprouted, include but are not limited to:
Alfalfa, Clover, Mustard, Radish, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Turnip, Kohlrabi, Kale, Collards.......
Possible:
Alliums - Garlic, Leek and Onion
Not a great choice since these seeds require up to 15 days to finish. If you try them you should Pre-Sprout them and you'll need to pay close attention to keeping the pads moist enough over their long growing period.
Impossible:
Everything not listed above unless it is small and produces an edible plant!
Miniature Garden
Sprouting Instructions
Specific Sprouting Instructions are found on
the page devoted to the Seed or Mix you are interested in.
Below are the specifics of the Miniature Garden.
Not all seeds require this step. See the seed information page to see if you need to do this for the seed you are growing.
You'll have to use something else to do this, the Miniature Garden is just for growing.
You'll have to use something else to do this, the Miniature Garden is just for growing.
There is no Rinsing with this process but there is Watering. It is important to keep the Felt Pads moist so that your Micro-Greens can grow well and happily. These are very small and tender plants, so water from the side - not down onto or through the plants. It is easy to water the Pads from the edge of the Tray.
Sprouting
Between Waterings is when your Micro-Greens really grow. We like a room-temperature (70° is always optimal) spot with no direct sunlight.
If you over-water the Pads you can tip the Tray to let excess water run off.
Seed Specific
Sprouting Instructions
If you have a particular seed type in mind,
read on to discover further details of that seed type as pertains to the Miniature Garden.
Refer to the seed's main information page for detailed instructions.
Maximum Capacity = 2 Teaspoons of dry seed per Tray
The growing method is virtually identical for all:
Micro-Greens
The seed information page will have specifics.
As mentioned above you can use virtually any small seed. Here are links to the main pages for the seed types:
Micro-Greens
Brassicas
Leafy Sprouts
Alliums
Here is the method:
•Soak and/or Pre-Sprout if necessary - do not Soak straight Mucilaginous seeds! See the seed's information page for specifics!
•Set the Miniature Garden in the spot where you want to grow.
•Wet the Pad or Baby Blanket thoroughly.
•Spread seeds on Pad - don't crowd them, they want some room to breathe.
•You may "cover" the lower 3 Trays during the 1st couple days to help retain moisture, by sliding them into the Base. Be sure to slide them out when the Micro-Greens begin to grow or you'll never get them out. Covering is optional but we suggest that you experiment with covering to see what works best for you - in your climate and with the particular seeds you are growing. The most important factor is........
•Keep the Pads moist (not so soaked that the seeds drown, just thoroughly moist).
You'll have a great crop of Micro-Greens in less than a week (perhaps a bit longer depending on your climate). Cut them off with a scissors and enjoy the ultimate gourmet vegetable. Cleaning the Miniature Garden is easier if you let the remaining plant material dry out completely.
Place a Felt Pad or Baby Blanket (or similar water retaining medium) in the Tray(s) in which you will be growing.
Slide the Tray(s) into the Base.
When growing; the Tray(s) are usually slid out so that they are just hanging on to the Base. You may leave the top Tray in, but the lower Trays need to be out so you can maintain your crop and harvest it when done.
Cleaning: Between crops: Scrub the plastic trays and base well with soap and water. Rinse well!
Sterilize: Scrub and soak the plastic trays and base in bleach water. We do this every 3 - 4 crops because a clean sprouter produces better sprouts and sterile is the way a sprouter should be at the start of any crop.
The Pads: Pull out any roots that will come out easily. Those that remain need to dry, so let the pads dry for a day or 2 or 3 - until the plant material is dry and flaky. With many Micro-Greens this extremely dry plant material will virtually disappear as it dries, but what doesn't you should try to pull gently from the Pads. Do not scrub the pads - they can't take it!
About the Pads: As stated above, the Felt Pads that come with this sprouter won't last long enough. If you handle them gently and follow our cleaning instructions they will last longer. In any case it isn't long enough! You can however substitute with any material that holds water. We love our new soilless planting medium, Baby Blanket - it is inexpensive and disposable, so you'll never have to clean a pad again!
When you buy Miniature Garden replacement Felt Pads, they come with 4 packs of seed (from the manufacturer) - the same seeds that came originally with your Miniature Garden - so it is actually a pretty good deal when you consider how much those seeds cost when purchased alone.
Manufacturers instructions are included with the Miniature Garden but as is so often the case - they are silly! This manufacturer is particularly silly however, so we suggest that you follow our directions and throw the manufacturers version away. If you do follow theirs you should regard it as an experiment.
SPROUTPEOPLE®
170 Mendell St.
San Francisco, CA 94124
Toll Free:
877/777-6887
(877/SPROUTS)
We only use the phone for emergencies.
Back in 2001 we were still using the phone. One day I was talking to a long-time customer while pushing my (then 4 year old) daughter on the swing in our backyard (this is what a mom n' pop business is like on the internet). It dawned on me that my priorities were severely messed up, so I stopped using the phone. I love to talk and I love to help, but my family would never see me if I picked up the phone again, and that's just wrong don't you think?!
The very best way to contact us is through E-mail =:-)
We are quite fast and VERY thorough. We love to help.
We have been an internet only business since 2001. We are not a big corporation. We are but 2 people, Mom n' Pop Sprout. We decided after years of juggling our family's (kids, dogs, cats and even our own) needs, and the needs of Sproutpeople, that we had to make more time for our kids, so we stopped talking on the phone. All calls go to voice mail and have since 2001.
We are very fast to fill orders and answer e-mail, and though we wish we could make the time to talk, we just can't seem to get more minutes into a each hour. We are many years older than when we started and our days are too short and made up of too few hours to do everything. This limitation in our business has not kept us from pleasing our customers, nor from growing (as we have every year since 1993). We do what we do as well as we can, and we think we do it very well indeed.
We appreciate your patronage more than we can say. We ask that you use the phone for emergencies only and that you search our site for answers before e-mailing us. This site is bigger than any 4 sprout books put together, it is always available and it is free, and we know that almost all questions are answered here.
Thanks again for your support and your many kind words.
Sproutpeople