Little Sprouts

It took a few days to get all the photos necessary to share with you the very simple process of growing your own sprouts. If you get worried about eating sprouts bought at the store, for fear of getting sick from them, this is the solution. It's also a great thing for kids to be part of, watch happen and then enjoy.

So first you will need a large mason jar, fine mesh (how fine depends on the seeds you're using) and an elastic band. Oh, and water, you need water.  

Pick your sprouts du jour. We have quite a variety to choose from, and it's amazing how different each one tastes. There's a daikon radish sprout that we've grown that is hot, hot, hot!! Yowzers. Most people are familiar with alfalfa sprouts, but there's so much more you can do.

Here's the Smidge picking out two varieties with her Jersey hair on a Saturday morning, in last year's pyjamas. Yup, we're photogenic around here.

Next you measure out some seeds in the jar. The amount you use depends on the size of the seed. For teensy seeds like the ones we've chosen here, you only use 1 tbsp. For a very large seed, you would use 1/2 cup. Then you place your mesh over the mouth of the jar, and secure with a rubber band.

You then add water until the jar is half-filled and allow the seeds to soak for about 4-6 hours.

After that amount of time, you drain out the water (hence your mesh better be securely in place). And lay the jar in a tilted postion with the top down. So I use a soup bowl, to have the jar on an angle. You want to make sure that you shake the seeds about (and do the hokey pokey) so that they're spread out in the jar.

Each morning and evening, you add a bit of water, shake the water about to get the seeds wet, drain the water, and replace the jar in its inclined position.

Depending on the seed type, you'll have sprouts in 3-10 days. So if you have a fast growing sprout, you'll start to see progress by day 1.

And with the quick-growing seeds, you'll have sprouts in about 3 days, and if your family is like mine, you'll come home to find them half eaten. Thanks Rocketman.

Et voilà!

If you're interested, Mumm's is a great supplier of organic seeds and the stuff you need to get started (they also offer free shipping on orders over $25 in Canada or over $50 for US customers). If you don't want to get too much to start, your health food store may sell seeds, so you could get just one little packet to try. Be adventurous though, it's fun to try all the different flavours. I'll post again soon on our adventures of growing wheat grass.

Yup, we're hooked on growing our own food, one painfully slow jar at a time.