Central Coast Home & Lifestyle Summer 2018

Trendy Microgreens Pack a Nutritional Punch

M icrogreens are flavourful and can easily be incorporated into your diet in a variety of ways. They’re also generally very nutritious and may even reduce your risk of certain diseases. Given that they’re easy to grow at home, they’re an especially cost-effective way to boost nutrient intake. As such, they’re a worthwhile addition to your diet. Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs harvested less than 14 days after germination. They are usually about 1-3 inches long and come in a rainbow of colours, which has made them popular in recent years as garnishes with chefs. Microgreens can be grown from many different types of seeds: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, watercress, radish, rocket, lettuce, endive, chicory, radicchio, dill, carrot, fennel, celery, garlic, onion, leek, quinoa, swiss chard,

designed for growing microgreens, either sunlight or ultraviolet lighting, ideally for 12–16 hours per day. Instructions 1. Fill your container with soil, making sure you don’t over-compress it, and water lightly. 2. Sprinkle the seed of your choice on top of the soil as evenly as possible. 3. Lightly mist your seeds with water, cover your container with a plastic lid. Check on your tray daily and mist water as needed to keep the seeds moist. 4. A couple of days after the seeds have germinated, you may remove the plastic lid to expose them to light. Water once a day while your microgreens grow and gain colour. After 7–10 days, your microgreens should be ready to harvest.

beet, spinach, melon, cucumber and squash. Microgreens require slightly less warm and humid conditions than sprouts do, and only the leaf and stem, rather than the root and seed, are consumed. That said, if you’re planning on growing microgreens at home, it’s important to buy seeds from a reputable company and choose growing mediums that are free of contamination with harmful bacteria. The most common growing mediums are peat, perlite and vermiculite. Single-use growing mats produced specifically for growing microgreens are considered very sanitary. How to Grow Your Own - They can be grown year-round, both indoors or outdoors. Here’s what you’ll need: - Good-quality seeds, a container filled with potting soil or homemade compost. Alternatively, you can use a single-use growing mat specifically

Death from overheating in the car can occur within 10 minutes D uring the summer months, this heartbreaking situation is all too common as dog owners often underestimate just how quickly temperatures can rise within a car, and inadvertently put their pets in danger while running a “quick” errand. “Cars heat up very rapidly in hot — or even warm — weather,” the RSPCA said in a press release. “Air conditioning can disguise the danger that a dog will face once the engine is turned off.” Shade alone can’t keep the heat out, and cracking a window isn’t enough to cool down a car, even when it seems like a comfortable temperature outside. What’s more, dogs don’t sweat like humans do. “Unlike humans, dogs pant to help keep themselves cool,” the RSPCA said. “The effectiveness of panting is reduced at high temperatures and humidities.” Last summer the animal welfare charity received over 625 calls — about two calls an hour — regarding animals in hot environments, most of which were dogs left in cars and many times the animals do not survive. Heat can pose an even graver risk for senior and very young animals, dogs with heavy coats, dogs suffering from obesity or with underlying health issues, and flat-faced dogs. Please leave your dog at home in the shade where it is lovely and cool with lots of cool, fresh water to drink throughout summer.