Sprouting

So I was talking to a friend recently about how he's been snowed in in Toledo.  He's been complaining about not being able to get to the grocery store for fresh vegetables.  That got me thinking about sprouting.   I haven't been snowed in in Philadelphia.  But right before a snow storm, everyone cleans out the grocery stores making it useless to go to them till they restock.  So far we've had 3 storms this year...

Originally I started growing my own sprouts because of the Alfalfa and Clover recalls due to being contaminated by Salmonella.  That creeped me out, cause when you buy seeds they come prewash by using bleach water.  Also I've lived in areas where buying Mung Bean Sprouts was near impossible as well.

So where to start?  I can get the more common seeds from Whole Foods.  But if I'm feeling adventurous or need need to replace a screen on my sprouting jar(2 qt mason jar) I go to Sprout People.  So in the picture below I keep my Alfalfa Seeds in that older mason jar, I have a mason jar that I just rinsed out with bleach water.  The 3 sizes of sprouting lids.  With smaller seeds like Alfalfa or Chia, I always start with the lid with the smallest holes.  In most kits it's Yellow.  If I was starting Mung Bean sprouts I'd start with the Green one.

Day 1

I place 3 tbsp of seeds in a 2 qt mason jar.  Even though the seeds come prewashed.  I always rinse my seeds before I start.  Alfalfa seeds sometimes have little bits of sand in with them.  Sand just isn't very tasty in salads and sandwiches.

Next I drain the seeds.  Hopefully removing any sand that may be there.

I put approximately 9 tbsp of water in my jar(1 part seeds to 2-3 parts water).  Let them soak 8-12 hours or for me it's easier to start them before I go to bed and let them soak overnight.

Day 2

In the morning I drain the water.

Rinse them again.

This time drain the water.

  Let your seeds sit in an area away from sun light.  You'll want to repeat this process in the evening before you go to bed.

Day 3

Repeat the process on Day 2.

By now you should start seeing the start of sprouts.

Day 4

Repeat the same process on Day 2 and 3.

Not sure if you can see most of the seeds have little white tails coming out of them.

Day 5

Repeat the same process as before, you'll notice that your seeds are almost sprouts at this stage.

Day 6

You can switch to the green lid now, so that when you rinse the sprouts you get the seeds that didn't sprout washed out through the lid.

Day 7

The sprouts should look like this.

Pour them into a colander.  I picked one with holes about the same size as the green lid.

Once I rinse the sprouts a few more times, I lay them out on a paper towel to drain.

You'll probably rinse off a ton of seeds.

Get a new paper towel and transfer your seeds before storing them in a sandwich bag.  I would say they probably last a couple of weeks in the fridge but mine haven't lasted longer then a couple of days.

They smelled so good I had to sample them....might be why mine don't last very long, lol.

So now as soon as my jar is washed and bleached I'll start some Mung Bean Sprouts.

Use plants to bring life.

-- Douglas Wilson