"Knee high by July." So goes the saying about the corn we planted Memorial Day weekend.

What about "On my plate in less than eight"? "A crunchy bite before a fortnight"? Wanna get fancy? "Garnishing Potatoes Lyonnaise in just a few days."

You get the point.

If you're an impatient culinary gardener and don't want to wait months before harvesting your food, you've got two options: sprouts and microgreens, the sprout's older self.

Microgreens make sprouts look tacky and unrefined. Think old Justin Timberlake next to new J.T. And while microgreens require dirt, unlike sprouts which grow in water alone, they only take a few more days to reach usable height.

Why go 'N Sync when you could go "leading man in the hot new Mila Kunis flick"?

Microgreens are infant greens, even smaller than baby greens, that are harvested when they reach a couple of inches in height. They can be grown from any seed and store nutrition in their leaves.

When master gardener Fred Bové came by to help us get started, we planted a mixture of daikon, sunflowers, scallions, mache, arugula and mustard - which all grow to be green in color - and red cabbage and beets for a splash of red. Microgreens taste milder than their full-grown counterparts and are great tossed into salads for crunch and color or scattered over proteins as garnish.

To begin a micro-garden, gather all leftover seeds or pick some up at your local gardening store, then set out a shallow nursery flat that's only a couple of inches deep. Moisten potting soil until it's sopping wet and pack it at least an eighth of an inch deep into the flats, and up to 1 inch. Then scatter the seeds on top. Be haphazard about it - there's no need to space them, because unlike other plants in your garden that form root systems and will compete for nutrients if crowded together, microgreens are harvested pre-root. Then put a thin layer of wet soil on top to cover.

Until the greens reach an inch or 2 in height - it should take no more than eight to 10 days, depending on the variety - make sure the soil is evenly moist at all times. Because the seedlings are delicate, it's best to use a spray bottle instead of a watering can, to ward against disturbing them. Harvest them early: When they've reached about 2 inches in height, snip and use before they flop over. Without room for the roots to grow, or space for nutrients, they eventually collapse.

Microgreens can grow either indoors or out (if you decide to grow outdoors, be sure to cover with netting to keep birds away), but our indoor plants grew faster than those outdoors. Confused, I e-mailed Bové, who responded, "Plants do not need light to germinate, and some seeds respond better to no or low fluctuations in temperature until they germinate. The flats inside are most likely at a warmer and more even temperature than those outside."

Indoors near a window may be the best bet for starting out.

And then? You'll "have a chew before week two." Or something along those lines.

E-mail comments to sbrickman@sfchronicle.com.