Aptos Market Microgreens are Packed with Nutrients and Flavor

Tiny, tender and younger than any other plant at the Farmers’ Market, the microgreens sold by New Natives Farm are harvested just 10-12 days after germination.

The small Aptos farm began growing vegetables back in 1981 and has found its niche growing microgreens for local markets, grocery stores and restaurants. Arugula, pea shoots, sunflowers sprouts, buckwheat, broccoli, and daikon radish are just a few of the green goodies you will find at its booth, washed and packaged in $2.25 bags.

“They all have their own flavors," said Sandra Ward, co-owner of the New Natives Farm. "Like arugula, their flavor is even more intense than mature arugula. It just sort of fills your mouth with arugula."

Not only packed with flavor, microgreens are concentrated capsules of nutrients that some call a “functional food,” as they may have more antibacterial, disease-preventing and cancer-fighting properties than mature plants. Pretty impressive for an impish sprout harvested before it even grows its "real" leaves.

Sounds good, but how do you eat them?

The first bag of microgreens I ever brought home puzzled me deeply. It was a bag of delicate broccoli sprouts that looked nothing like broccoli but left an unmistakable broccoli essence on the tongue. My final decision, to pile them high on a tuna-salad sandwich, turned out to be a delicious one indeed. The sprouts offered just enough flavor oomph to be noticed, without taking over.

Next I tried the spicier arugula sprouts and a salad mix of kohlrabi, tatsoi, mizuna (all Japanese greens), arugula and red cabbage, and have found the delicate greens to be a versatile addition to much of what I already eat. Try them on a slice of toast with your morning eggs, or throw them into your soup, stir fry or green salad. Some are peppery, some are lemony, some are, well, just "green" tasting, so sample them before you buy.

“Sometimes we go and get a croissant at the Cabrillo market and just stuff it with greens, it’s so delicious," said Ward. "You don’t need anything else.” She also suggests adding them to rice paper wraps or sushi. Some people blend them into a juice like wheatgrass, which New Natives also brings to the markets and sells as a live plant.

The microgreens are grown under 12,000 square feet of greenhouse cover, and they are harvested the same morning they are brought to the markets or delivered to the restaurant that ordered them.

“We harvest every day, except for the weekends, and we plant every day of the week,” said Ward. Restaurants like Dharmas in Capitola use New Natives’ sunflower sprouts on all of its salads, while many other restaurants use them as creative garnishes—cilantro microgreens being one of the most popular.

You can find New Natives’ greens at the Downtown market on Wednesday afternoon, the Aptos market on Saturday morning, the Live Oak market on Sunday morning and the Westside market on Saturday, as well as at New Leaf Markets and Staff of Life. 

The Aptos market is Saturdays year round at Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, from 8 a.m.-noon. The Live Oak Market is Sundays year round at the East Cliff Plaza on Portola Drive, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.