I’m working through an idea about microgreen quality as one of the traits of a landrace.
My ground is frozen more often than not, so I can’t grow fresh stuff year 'round. Microgreens are a good way to get something fresh-tasting without all the infrastructure of lights and pots or hydroponics. Some of my landrace projects are also finally past the “seed increase” stage and bordering on “seed abundance” in some cases.
It makes sense to use some of those seeds as microgreens. If I’m using them for microgreens it makes sense to select for microgreen qualities. Some of those qualities are easier to select for than others, for instance we automatically select for things like ease of seed harvest (holds onto its seeds until harvested; low-infrastructure ways of collecting the seed), germination rate, even size (which might lead to larger/more robust microgreens).
Flavour seems to be a difficult thing to select for, in microgreens especially. Unless you keep different family origins separate and do tasting that way, once you know it’s tasty the little plant is already eaten and there’s not much to do about it. There may be a proxy here in flavour in the adult/parent plant: if that’s tasty, the offspring probably will be?
I am looking at this in two ways: one, as a bonus crop from something I’m already growing for another reason, like soup peas where it’s almost just another method of preparation, or lamb’s quarters which I grow for leaves and which doesn’t taste good when it starts going to seed so I might as well leave it alone to create seeds on its own time and if it does that I might as well harvest them.
The other way, and more ambitious, is as a quality in a mixed self-seeding greens area. I’ve played with parts of this idea before: lamb’s quarters is my favourite green, it self-seeds beautifully. This winter I’ve noticed the piglets walking around and selectively eating the seeds off its stalks. My arugula patch did well and produced a ton of seed (I think it ripened?) but I didn’t harvest it because I want it to be self-sustaining. Now I’m picturing a selection of plants that come up of their own accord in spring, get eaten through the summer, then send up flower stalks and go to seed. Maybe the flower stalks are eaten too. When the seed is ready, you go out with a bowl and knock the seedheads over it, the seeds fall out, and there’s your microgreen mix. Whatever you miss falls onto the ground and starts the cycle again.
Of course, in this case you’re removing the most easily harvested seed, which is probably selection pressure over time for seed that stays in capsules which don’t open, ripens at different times, etc.
) seems useful in this context.