Girly Girl Greens

Growing your own microgreens, especially for a small household, is easier than you might think. In this article, we share 5 tips to help you have success from start to finish. Check it out!

girlygirlgreens.com/blog

Be sure to sign up for our email list so you don't miss any posts. Link in bio.

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Did you know we have a blog article and pdf guide for soil? We know how hard it can be to figure out what works best, especially for a new grower. If you're like us, you might have had some disasters with what you tried 🤪

But let's clear up the confusion and point you in the right direction. This custom recipe has been perfected by us after our many experiments. It's consistently yielded beautiful results.

Check out our guide using the link in bio, read our blog, and sign up for our emails so you can see our newest blog posts as they appear.

15 days of dry aging, 3 ducks, and 1 perfected dish: The Duck Trio. Featuring White Pekin duck, foie torchon, sous vide duck yolk jam, porcini lavash, a rich toki duck jus, and finished with local pea shoots from .

Reposted from

(Also a touch of amaranth for color)

We love seeing what you do with our micros 😎 Thank you!
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New blog post 🤠📄 Updated article about and how to create sustainable soil. It gives you an overview of what you need and how to keep it going.

Getting started isn't hard and if you have a raised bed already, you can incorporate these techniques.

Link to our blog is in the bio.

~ A Tale of Two Sorrels ~

Red Veined Sorrel is one of the most difficult to perfect as a grower. One wrong move and you can ruin the whole thing. Let me tell you our story with the first sorrel we ever grew.

In late 2016, we were just learning how to grow microgreens with the intention of creating a business. Red veined sorrel being one of the most popular among chefs meant that we needed to learn how to do it.

We prepared our planting tray and excitedly opened the seeds we had gotten. Hmm, they weren't very big...

Being the complete newbies we were, looking at those tiny seeds made us reason that more was better. After all, they were SO small. 🧐 The general directions for all microgreens tells you to broadcast seeds thickly over growing media. Thickly? Boy, it was going to take a lot of seeds to make it thick. At this rate, we'd have to buy them more often.

After eagerly checking on them every day, we finally saw tails sprouting. LOTS of tails. Our rookie reaction was, that's great! What an awesome germination. We'd get a great crop out of this. Maybe sorrel wouldn't be so hard after all. While we were performing a little happy dance 💃 and patting ourselves on the back, the sorrel reached about an inch tall and completely stopped growing. 😮☹️

The moral of the story? Less is better, especially when it comes to seeding red veined sorrel. In fact, we barely use any seeds when spreading them out.

And no, it didn't take us 6 years to master this tricky green 😅

Thanks to Candy (a.k.a. Mama) and her tireless efforts to figure it all out, we learned what to do. Sorrel is challenging, particular about what it likes, and a slow grower in comparison to other microgreens. But you can do it with patience and careful watering.

There are plenty of other spectacular failures I could tell you about, but those are stories for another post. For anyone who's new to growing microgreens, I promise you'll be able to look back and laugh at your early trial and error days.

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It's been a while since we posted but yes, we are still here 😁

The busy season for farmers is upon us and we've been hard at work. Besides expanding our indoor growing shelves and streamlining our work flow, we're constantly planting and transplanting lettuce into raised beds in our greenhouses, working hard to keep our soil and plants happy even in the heat.

Now, for some exciting news:

We were privileged to be featured in an article published by Bold Journey with our farm story and the struggles we have faced. It's entitled "Portraits of Resilience" and is basically an interview where we answered some questions about challenges we've gone through and how we overcame them.

Check out their site and read the article. There is a link to it in our bio. We hope you enjoy it and share your thoughts with us.

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Looking for some good food while you're out and about this weekend? The team at has you covered!

Fresh, wild king salmon with curried carrot puree, morel mushrooms, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, and white crema. Or, choose the grilled asparagus with spiced pistachios, baby kale, and burrata cheese 😋 And much more!

Be sure to look for the Girly Girl Greens micro pea shoots that pair with these delectable dishes and add some flair.

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Can you guess what this is?

Hint: It's not grass. 😄

Our latest experiment for a new microgreen variety is carrots. We love the frilly leaves that are starting to develop on here and plan to have them in full production in the next few weeks.

Not only are they exceptionally high in vitamin A and antioxidants, the flavor is just like a fresh, sweet carrot. Oohhh so good 😋🌱

Try adding them to soup, salad, or even pesto.

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We recently reached 1,000 followers and thought now would be a good time to tell you a little about ourselves and the story behind Girly Girl Greens.

Our names are Bronté (left in the first photo) and Candy. We're a mother-and -daughter team of self-taught farmers with a passion for growing. In 2017 we began selling live (uncut) microgreens to restaurants in Seattle. We laugh now at our many experiments back then while we figured out what worked, but everyone has to start somewhere. 🌱

Since then we have expanded to include Bellevue and Woodinville and finally made a comeback after the hard-hitting losses of COVID in 2020.

Besides supplying restaurants, we offer a home delivery program of and in the local Duvall area. This allows us to interact with our community and be involved in helping to fill some of the need for good, healthy food. Visit our website for more details about us and what we offer. Link in bio.

Besides being certified organic, we are studying more about how to improve our soil food web and become a farm as time goes on.

The amazing photos shared here were taken by the talented .lee.photography.wa

If you're in our area and want an excellent photographer, Amber is definitely a great choice. Thank you Amber!

A couple of fun facts about Bronte and Candy:

We both love nature and the mountains, animals, and being outdoors.

Candy raised 11 children and loved doing it. Every one of us is a little crazy in our own way, but that's a good thing. 🤪😄

We're passionate about healthy eating and a lifestyle to support that, which we feel a farming life helps us in doing.

Read more about us on website and visit our blog.

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The unusually cold nights have slowed down the outdoor lettuce coming to maturity in our greenhouses. These ladies should be at least twice this size. So instead of 7 to 8 weeks they are out at least an extra 2 weeks. On the upside lettuce is a cold hardy crop. And being under cover is an added plus.

Thankfully it doesn't affect the flavor or the color though. They actually have deeper reds and greens. But it makes it hard to keep a consistent supply going out to our neighbors. 😔We appreciate their patience and understanding. It's supposed to warm up in May. ? 🤔 We hope.🙄
The indoor lettuce is growing well due to fewer temperature fluctuations. See the last 5 photos.

Our results of using compost tea by AgMent LLC have been great. We can't wait to see what else grows better and how it improves our soil over time, especially in the raised beds.

These red mizuna have grown taller and bigger in two weeks than the previous week's planting (which had no compost tea) that are a week older. Exciting!

This picture and message from our customer Girly Girl Greens in Washington speaks better than any case study we could give you.

“Hi Jonathon, hope all is well! I wanted to share these photos of some comparisons I did on our microgreens. The soil with compost tea has made a difference. My plants that are a week younger are already bigger than the 3 week old ones without the tea. I normally send these ones out at 3 weeks. You can see the leaves are bigger and taller”

Ever had Deer Tongue?? We're talking about lettuce🤭😆..anyway this is a gorgeous lady, hardy, and quick growing. It is an heirloom Bibb type with unique tongue shaped leaves. The buttery leaves have a cruchy rib and excellent flavor. This is a pretty addition to our mixed lettuce bags we deliver locally to our Duvall neighbors on a weekly run.

We have been very pleased with our indoor lettuces. Had some hiccups at 1st but we got those all worked out and now we are also growing 2 greenhouses full of 36 different varieties, as well. This being one of our favs.
It's been a cold Spring here in Washington. But the outdoor lettuce crop has weathered it well by staying safe in their greenhouse home in spite of the cold. They don't get frosty being under cover.

When the temperatures are in the 30's the GH temps are in the upper 40's and low 50's. But on warmer days we roll up the sides for more ventilation and to cool the lettuce to their liking.

https://www.girlygirlgreens.com/blog/microgreensoil

Do the many options for what soil is best for growing microgreens overwhelm you? What will really work?

In this post we discuss the needs of and what kind of soil they prefer.

Have a specific question? Send us a PM! We're happy to help.

Best Soil for Growing Microgreens — Girly Girl Greens Good soil mix is critical to growing microgreens and getting a good result. A few ingredients and you have the best soil for microgreens.

Can you guess what this microgreen is?

One of the lesser-talked about varieties, Tokyo Bekana is one of our most popular . This pale Asian green is similar to mizuna but has a slightly different flavor. It enhances without being overpowering.

Perfect for a salad mix, as a topping, or even on a sandwich. It's one of the easiest microgreens to grow, very hardy and fast. Our home delivery customers often have this as one of their top choices.

Health benefits include vitamins A, C, and K, iron, calcium, folate, and magnesium. Excellent in the micro stage but it's also fun to grow to a slightly larger stage in the raised bed since these leaves can be cut for a greens mix. The color never changes from pale green, but the wonderful mild flavor will make you want it more.

Wherever you live, find microgreens near you .directory

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After 6 months, we are successfully growing lettuce indoors. There are a few things that are have to be done differently when growing indoors but we made several adjustments and redjustments along the way but it was a great challenge.

So considering everything, we have decided to grow lettuce as a full time crop both indoors and in our green houses. It's a new direction for us but we're looking forward to doing it.

What led us here was recognizing the reality of the current food shortage problem due to climate change. Plus, when you buy from small local farms like ours, you not only get high quality, delicious produce, you have a more reasonable cost that goes directly to the farmers.

Lettuce is a staple vegetable crop and the price of it is continuing to rise. We will be adding a beautiful LETTUCE MIX to our home delivery service soon here in Duvall. We will have 2 size options with online ordering. Of course, we're continuing to offer our living microgreens in home delivery and you will be able to have lettuce and microgreens, lettuce only, or microgreens only. More details to follow.

We love seeing what chefs do with our microgreens! This filet mignon from the talented chefs at Heritage Restaurant & Bar looks delicious 😋 Accented with microgreens from

If you're in the local area, give them a try! Great food, awesome service, and a friendly atmosphere await.

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The beauty of never fails to lose its allure and we love sharing them with chefs and customers at home. This week we made our first delivery to
Heritage Restaurant | Bar located in the heart of Woodinville wine country.

Chef and owner Breanna Beike has created an atmosphere where everyone can feel at home no matter the occasion. Featuring high quality seasonal ingredients from various local farms and wineries, you're sure to get an excellent dish and great service.

If you live in the area, make a reservation and give them a try! We're excited to be working with and expand our restaurant delivery in the area.

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Microgreens in Focus: Arugula

Also known as rocket or roquette greens, today's feature is a classic favorite among many (ourselves included). What we love about arugula in the micro stage is that it has just the right level of spice. Unlike its full-size counterpart, micro arugula isn't very bitter. It's even more impressive when grown to the true leaf stage as shown in the photos.

Health benefits of arugula microgreens include high vitamin content, chlorophyll, antioxidants, calcium, carotenoids that support eye-health, and more. Like all microgreens, the percentage of these nutrients is more concentrated at this stage than it is when grown to maturity.

Ideas for using arugula include using it on sandwiches, as a topping for pizza, and adding it to salads or wraps.

Do you like arugula? What do you use it for?

If you haven't already, please check out our GoFundMe page and help us raise money to purchase a delivery van. We're a small farm and need your help to get more of what we grow out there. Whether you donate or spread the word, we truly appreciate your support.

Link in bio.

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It's been a long two years for everyone, and small businesses are no exception. We love sharing our greens with those in the community, whether for home use or as part of a chef's presentation. Our business has gotten back into full swing this year but we need help. In order to continue operating and meet the demand, we have to get a delivery van that's large enough to accommodate the amount we need to sell. We kindly ask that you read our story and please share with others. Thank you!

A Small Organic Farm Get a Delivery Van, organized by Bronte Austin Hi, my name is Bronte, and I'm the owner of a small certified organic farm call… Bronte Austin needs your support for A Small Organic Farm Get a Delivery Van

The power of soil 😎
It all starts here. Soil is the foundation of everything you grow. Read our blog post about the best soil mixture for outstanding produce. 🌱🌱🌿

https://www.girlygirlgreens.com/blog/best-soil
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Watch this reel by girlygirlgreens on Instagram Infraction • Grey Wolf

We are advancing our knowledge of the natural world of soil layering and using the forest floor as an example. Simply put, it's using decomposing small logs twigs and leaves under the soil mix to create the ingredients for a regenerating soil that will continue to produce great results. We do still add a few amendments to our soil while it is still in the regenerating process. Since our raised beds were already filled we are having to do this in stages.

It won't get completely changed out this season but we are working at as we can. We are excited to see the results take shape over time. Check out the tiny pine cones in photo 4.

We have other news to share with you. At this time we are working on our new gardening blog as we speak. The 1st post is up already. The link is in the bio where you will be directed to the blog. Soon there will be numerous posts that will guide you through the steps of starting and building your own successful vegetable and fruit garden, with a lot of How To's on choosing where to locate your garden area, how to build your soil, what grows best in your zone area, and what to grow for your needs. Stay tuned.

Always love a colorful salad to brighten up a dark and dismal rainy day, especially when we can make it in our pretty, bright new kitchen.
We added our own homemade for a healthy dose of probiotics and topped it all off with our home grown ... Yummy

Now it's easier to send Girly Girl Greens a message.