Use and Care Manual / Installation Instructions

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For your health and safety, please read the information
below regarding sanitation, safe growing and food
safety.
Micro greens and herbs are not sprouts, but rather, baby
plants with intense avor and nutrients. There are dier-
ences in growing and harvesting micro greens that make
them much safer than sprouts.
Starting with Seeds
Make sure that all seeds you buy have been handled as a
food crop, not a farm crop. Seeds that have been in con-
tact with animals or animal waste could be contaminated
with salmonella or E.coli O157 H7 and could lead to food
poisoning. Reputable seed suppliers test all lots of seed
for contamination.
Make sure that each container of seed is labeled with the
name of the seed producer or distributor, the lot number
and the country of origin.
Keep records to ensure trace-back and recall procedures.
Sanitation
Always use clean seed, as stated above, and soil, tested for
E. coli and salmonella.
Sanitize equipment; regularly clean an sanitize all growing
drawers, cabinet and reservoir with hydrogen peroxide
rate recommended below. We recommend a thorough
cleaning/disinfecting weekly, or when new trays are plant-
ed.
Don’t let greens or seeds come into contact with manure
or other contaminated organic material.
Hands and equipment must be kept clean at all times for
handling micro greens. We recommend food handling
gloves during planting and harvesting.
Water in the reservoir should be clean, potable water, test-
ed for bacterial contamination.
It is recommended that 2% chlorine from calcium hypo-
chlorite be used as a seed sanitation method if your inten-
tion is sprouting. This is not necessary for micro greens,
but can be done as an extra precaution.
Using Calcium Hypochlorite
Rate: 3 ounces calcium hypochlorite in 1 gallon of warm
water. Mix thoroughly and soak seed for 20 minutes. Rinse
seed thoroughly in clean water, then nish soaking time, if
required, in clean water. Avoid breathing the fumes of
chlorine. Masks should be worn to lter the fumes is you
choose this method.
Using Hydrogen Peroxide:
Soak seeds in hydrogen peroxide. Add 5 ounces of 5% hy-
drogen peroxide and one ounce distilled vinegar to one
quart of room temperature water. Pour the solution over
the seed and let stand for 5 minutes, making sure that all
of the seed is in contact with the solution. Drain and rinse
the seeds in clean water several times to make ensure the
solution has been removed. Plant seed as usual. This
again is recommended for sprouting, but not necessary for
growing micro greens and herbs.
Growing Conditions
The environment in which E. coli and salmonella thrive is
warm and moist. Most commercial sprouts are grown in
large tanks of water, which tumble the seeds much like a
washing machine tumbles clothes. In these conditions, if
one seed is contaminated, it will be spread to all of the
sprouts in the water bath.
Micro greens are not grown in water. We recommend
growing them in sterile soil or other sterile media. While a
sprout bath spreads pathogens from one sprout to anoth-
er, soil acts like a lter, actually removing the source of
contamination.
Harvesting
While a sprout is consumed whole, including the leaves,
roots and seed husk, micro greens are newly germinated,
small plants like you’d nd in any garden. All micro greens
should be harvested with clean hands, or using food han-
dling gloves, clipped at least 2” away from the root system
and soil, using clean disinfected scissors. Ensure all debris
is removed from micro greens and cleaned thoroughly
before consumption.
Refrigerate cut micro greens, except basil (cut basil is deli-
cate and does not like the cold). Treat them and any foods
containing them as you would any nutritious food.
If you love sprouts, consider growing micro greens. Their
bright and intense avor will be even more enjoyable now
that you have condence that they are also safe to enjoy.
SANITATION AND FOOD SAFETY GUIDELINES