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Released May 14, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Every year for nearly two decades, Florida farmers have gathered at the Suwannee Valley Twilight Field Day to hone their craft, often learning how to grow more luscious and larger fruits and vegetables. This year, however, there was a new lesson being offered: how to grow small.

Dubbed one of 2008’s culinary buzzwords by National Public Radio, microgreens—vegetables harvested soon after sprouting—are expected to be one of this summer’s hottest food trends, as well as a boon to many small specialty farms that provide them to restaurants and farmers’ markets.

Experts at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are helping farmers take advantage of the phenomenon.

You should devote a section of your organic garden to herbs. Herbs are very common in lots of recipes. They complement the food we eat and are a good source of beneficial nutrients. Herbs are relatively easy to grow; thriving in most soil conditions with little fertilizer.

Herb plants are either annuals or perennials. Annuals grow only for a portion of the year or season and need to be replanted each year. Perennials grow year round for multiple seasons. Herbs grown in a container, will live all year, if brought indoors for the winter. In the garden, they will grow and bloom again after the winter.

Herbs will generally grow well when they receive more than 12 hours of sunlight (12-16 hours is a good range). You can grow herbs in a container indoors in addition to planting outside. It might be preferable to have the herbs indoors, in a location that will receive lots of light, so that you can easily snip the plants as you cook.