Time to Grow Up and Grow Your Own — Easy Seed Sprouting Directions
Step One: Start with organic seeds. This means they won’t be sprayed with poisons, genetically modified or otherwise yucky. Alfalfa and mung beans are the most familiar sprout types (think hippie sandwiches and Chinese food) but almost any kind of seeds will deliver tasty sprouts. Try radish, pea, garbanzo, lentil, adzuki beans, clover, broccoli, and many others. You can even make your own blends which are especially delicious in salads. They are fairly easy to find if you look and there are many online sources too.
Step Two: For almost all seeds, add 2-3 tbsp seeds (less for smaller seeds like alfalfa and more for the larger types) to a quart jar filled with room temperature water. Cover with a screened lid or even just a cheesecloth and rubber band (the idea is to let air in). Let soak overnight.
Step Three: In the morning, rinse twice. (You can water your plants with the sprout water – they love it). Turn the jar upside down in a bowl (at an angle so any water can drain) and let sit in a dark, warm place such as a cabinet. Rinse with clean water 2-3 times daily (morning and evening is the easiest to remember and works fine). If you forget, just do it as soon as you remember. Once you get a routine, you won’t forget.Step Four: In 3-4 days, when the seeds have sprouted and tiny seed leaves begin to appear, you can move the smaller seeds that you want to turn green (alfalfa, radish, etc.) to a well lit spot, continuing to rinse twice daily and allowing them to drain. In a day or so, the sprouts will green up. The larger seeds, like peas, beans and lentils are ready before the seed leaves get too big. They are incredibly tasty with a fresh flavor and packed with nutrition.
Step Five: Remember that sprouts can contain up to 100 times the nutritional wallop as their full-grown counterparts, including vitamins, essential fatty acids and cancer-fighting agents such as those found in broccoli. Most of all, they are tasty, inexpensive, easy to keep in your pantry and versatile. Use sprouts in sandwiches, salads and more.
*Important Note About Sprouts and Health Issues: There have been many reports of salmonella and other nasties in sprouts in our food supply. Mass-production and quality-control (like most similar outbreaks in too many other foods) are sadly often the causes for these concerns. When you grow your own sprouts, using quality seed sources, you are taking one more step to be sure that what you are eating is fresh and filled with vitality rather than just another dead product of the corporate food chain.