onions and paprika

 

VegeCentral

 

Sprouts

 

Sprouted seeds and grains are a fantastic way of bringing more vitamins into your diet. The vitamin content of seeds can increase greatly when sprouted. Vitamin C can multiply 5 times within 3 days of germination.

Most people have tried mung bean sprouts, which are often used in Chinese cooking. Alfalfa is another common sprout which is available on supermarket shelves and is lovely added to salads or raw juices. These are just the beginning of the sprouts you could try. Most dried beans, legumes and grains/seeds can be sprouted and enjoyed as a food.

An exciting thing about sprouts is that they are very easy to grow yourself, even if you don't have a yard, you can grow some sprouts in a few days, ready to add to your salads, soups etc.

 

 

sprouts with buddah figurine

sprouting process
  1. soak grains or seeds in water overnight
  2. rinse them off the next morning and leave them draining in the sprouting device
  3. rinse them again after 8 hours* and drain
  4. rinse again after 8 hours and drain
  5. rinse again after 8 hours and drain
  6. some seeds will be sprouted enough now, others will need a bit longer
  7. if sprouts are ready, rinse them and store them in your fridge
  8. if they aren't ready, just repeat the rinsing and draining process above for up to a few days until sprouts are grown to the length you desire
*8 hours is a good average time for rinsing sprouts, some sprouts may need more rinsing (such as soya beans) but others will need rinsing less often.

sprouting devices
You can purchase different types of sprouting devices such as :
A sprouting bag, which is usually made of fabric that seeds can be rinsed in and breathe through in order to sprout sprouting bag
Sprouting trays and farms, that may include lids and little drainage devices photo of a box for a sprout farm
It is very easy to make up your own sprouting device

You will need....

  1. a glass jar with a fairly wide opening
  2. gauze, muslin, nylon mesh (or similar fabric for the lid, I use tulle)
  3. rubber band
  • use the rubber band to secure the fabric over the opening of the jar once the seeds & water are inside
 home made sprouting jar
In fact, if you are creative, you can grow your own sprouts almost anywhere..... photo of afalfa sprouts growing in a keyboard
a little fairy
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