Gardening
Grow Quick, Easy and Nutritious Microgreens
Small grow light kits make growing herbs and microgreens indoors easy and convenient for harvesting and cooking.
Photo credit: photo courtesy of Gardener’s Supply Company
Add fresh flavor to your meals year-round with microgreens. These easy-to-grow greens need minimal space and no special equipment for a flavorful and nutritious harvest in little more than a week.
Use microgreens on salads, soups, pizzas, omelets, in stir fries or as a snack. These tiny seedlings are packed with more nutrition than their mature counterparts.
Add a bit of spice to soups and sandwiches with radish and mustard microgreens. Try red cabbage, chard, beets and amaranth for some added color. Sunflower’s somewhat nutty flavor makes it perfect for snacking. Let some of your pea microgreens grow a bit taller to use in stir fries.
Fill a shallow container with a two-inch layer of moist potting or seed starting mix. Sprinkle seeds over the soil surface and lightly cover with potting or seed starting mix. Water gently to ensure good seed-to-soil contact.
Continue to water often enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Reduce your workload and keep the planting mix consistently moist by covering freshly planted containers with plastic. Once the greens break through the soil, remove the cover and move the container to a sunny location or under artificial lights.
Increase the fun and success with a microgreen growing kit like the Organic Herb and Microgreens Grow Kit from Gardener’s Supply (www.gardeners.com). This set up is the perfect size for your countertop or other small space. The full spectrum light is adjustable so you can raise or lower it as needed whether growing short microgreens or taller herbs.
Or skip the growing mix and mess with a Jute Microgreens Starter Kit. Set the jute mat in the shallow tray, add seeds, and water. Then compost the jute mat after harvesting your greens.
Follow the planting directions on the seed packet. You typically need two to three tablespoons of seeds for an 11” x 21” tray. Buy enough seeds to make additional plantings every week or two to ensure a constant supply. Microgreens like most vegetables taste best and are most nutritious when eaten fresh. And these tasty bundles do not last long in storage.
The microgreens are ready to harvest once the plant forms the first set of true leaves. These are the leaves that resemble those of the mature plant. This takes anywhere from 7 to 14 days, depending on the room temperature and type of microgreens you are growing.
Use scissors to clip the greens off at ground level. If you prefer to use the whole seedling, roots and all, you will need to wash off any of the seed starting mix clinging to the roots.
Once you harvest all the greens, it is time to replant. Save money and be kind to the environment by composting the used planting mix and reusing containers. Convert shallow fast-food containers into planting trays. Disinfect these or other planting trays before using them for subsequent plantings. Just soak the containers in a 10% bleach and water solution for ten minutes. Then rinse in clear water before planting.
Gardening doesn’t get much easier than this. You will enjoy the fresh flavor all winter long as you wait for the outdoor growing season to begin.
Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Gardeners Supply for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
How Valuable Is Your Antique Painting?
We often find antique paintings in the New England estates that we handle. Prices vary greatly, as some paintings are worth little while others can be quite valuable. This column will offer tips to determine if that painting on your wall will help you with your retirement fund.
The first thing you should do is check to see if what you have is an actual painting. Prints can often look like paintings to the naked eye. If you check your piece with a magnifying glass, you may find dots, the ? copyright mark and other indications that it is just a print. You may also see a number such as 246/500 signed in pencil along with the artist name. These markings are seen on limited edition prints or AP (artist proof) prints. They have some value, but typically are not as valuable as an original painting. There are exceptions though. Nearly 20 years ago, we sold a group of prints that were signed by Andy Warhol. They brought around $500 then and may be worth even more if they were auctioned today.
If you are certain you have a painting, there are other things you can check for or you can ask someone more knowledgeable to help you check it. Look at the painting detail. Do the details, such as hands in a portrait or items in the background of a scene, look like they are painted well? Try to estimate the age by examining the frame. If it is in an antique gold leaf frame, the painting could very well have been done in the 19th century. Also examine what material it was painted on. If the painting is on canvas, turn it around and check to see if the canvas has the discoloration that you would expect with an older painting. Paintings on canvas are typically more valuable than those painted on board. Oil paintings typically bring more than watercolors or pastels.
The subject matter also makes a difference in value. An artist may be well known for their seascapes, but they could have also painted portraits or landscapes. The paintings that they specialized in are typically more valuable. Painting size is also important. Some painting appraisals are based on the price per square inch. Condition is another important factor. Holes, tears and repairs will detract from value. The provenance (definition according to Merriam Webster: “the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature”) is important with paintings, as with other antiques. We sold an abstract painting by a French artist at one of our auctions. The winning bidder asked for the family name from the estate who consigned it so that he could track the provenance of the painting and prove it was original.
Lastly, look for the name of the artist and see if it is dated. When you have the artist name you can look it up in Davenport’s Art Reference and Price Guide or an online database. Paintings that we found in local estates have brought five figures at auction. There are plenty more in this area that could bring six or seven figures. If you have a valuable painting, you can sell it and always replace the space on the wall with a reasonably priced limited-edition print.
Our current online auction features paintings by well-known equestrian artist Fay Moore from her estate. Bidding ends February 17th. We will soon be running our next auction of antique, vintage and more recent toy vehicles and trains. We continue to accept quality consignments of gold jewelry, sterling silver, paintings, coins, and better collectibles such as 1960s and earlier comic books and baseball cards for that sale. Keep watching www.centralmassauctions.com for more details on upcoming events.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com