How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

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How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

Sprouting

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You've seen them at salad bars and maybe at the

supermarket. Now it is time to save money and improve

your health in a big way... by growing lots of those

little high-protein sprouts at home.

 

To begin with, you will need 6 to 12 glass jars.

Mason jars are fine, as are mayonnaise jars, " Miracle

Whip " jars, peanut butter jars, or any other jars that

hold about one and one-half quarts each. If you've

not yet started saving your own jars, ask your

neighbors for some. You will also need about a square

yard of countertop space, a small strainer that just

fits the jar openings, tap water, fresh seed to

sprout, a window, and ten minutes twice a day.

 

Place about enough seed in a jar to cover the bottom

of the jar about two seeds deep. Too much seed gives

poor results. Add about half a jar of cool tap water

and let soak overnight (about six to ten hours). Next

morning, fit the strainer into the jar opening to hold

the seed back while you pour off the water that the

seeds soaked in.

 

You now have a pile of damp seeds in the bottom of the

jar. Good. Now wait until afternoon (or evening) and

fill the jar nearly full of cool water again. This

time, though, you should pour the water off (using the

strainer) right away. There is no need for an

overnight soak after the first night. YOU DO NEED TO

CONTINUE TO RINSE AND DRAIN THE SPROUTS TWICE EACH

DAY. Three rinses a day is even better. If you don't

rinse the seeds, they will dry out... and die out. If

you add water and never drain it off, the sprouts will

drown. They are not aquatic; they just need water

like any other crop. Rinse and drain twice a day!

 

You can sprout several different types of seeds. Try

alfalfa first; alfalfa sprouts are tasty and easy to

grow. They are ready in about six days. Most sprouts

grow more quickly in the warm summer months and more

slowly in cooler temperatures. You can also sprout

wheat, clover, cabbage, lentils, mung beans, radish

seeds, soy beans and fenugreek seeds. If you sprout

wheat or lentils, I recommend that you eat the sprouts

quite early, such as on the second or third day at the

latest. Wheat and lentil sprouts are rather hard to

chew after that, although they are certainly still

good for you. I do not recommend trying to sprout

mung beans or soy beans at first. Mung sprouts are

fussy and soy bean sprouts can have a rather strong

odor. I am very partial to radish sprouts because they

are a bit " hot " or spicy, just like a radish. Yum.

Your local health food store or co-op probably has

more information on seeds for sprouting. Don't

hesitate to ask.

 

It is important that you obtain unsprayed, FRESH seed

for sprouting. Stale seed does not germinate (sprout)

very well. It is a good idea to smell the seeds that

you are about to buy. Do they smell stale, old or

rancid? If so, shop elsewhere. It is wise to

purchase your seeds someplace where they sell a LOT of

seeds. This helps ensure freshness. You do not want

to buy huge amounts of seed at a time, either. Start

with perhaps half of a pound or a pound at most. At

home, we keep our seeds in separate glass jars with

tightly-fitting lids. And of course, keep the seed

dry until you are ready to grow!

 

Plain tap water is usually fine for rinsing your

sprouts. If your harvest is small, you might consider

filtering your tap water, or letting it stand for a

day before use. These ideas often help if you are

having trouble getting the seeds to germinate. It is

normal for some of the seeds to NOT sprout. Most

should, or the seeds are too old.

 

For the first few days, your sprouts do not need

sunlight. After all, seeds normally sprout

underground. For the final couple of days, it is a

good idea to put them in the window to get sunlight.

This will " green up " your sprouts and help them grow

more quickly. Continue to rinse and drain the sprouts

right up until you eat them.

 

One of the healthiest things you can do is eat a jar

or two of assorted sprouts each day. Sprouts are a

complete protein, just like meat... but without the

fat and other negative aspects of dead animal muscle.

Sprouts are loaded with enzymes, vitamins and

minerals. Eating a lot of the different kinds of

sprouts gives you a virtually perfect diet. Sprouts

are inexpensive and really tasty when you grow them

yourself. Sure, you can buy them in a store. You

will also pay more and get a much less fresh, and much

less flavorful, product.

 

In order to have two jars of sprouts to eat each day,

you need to START two jars each day. This is why you

need all those jars that we mentioned earlier. If you

start two jars daily, and the sprouts take six days to

be ready to eat, then you need twelve jars. Starting

three jars each day means 15 jars, and so on.

 

It does sound like a lot to eat two jars of sprouts

per day. Remember, though, that each jar will not be

full. Normally, the sprouts will only fill the jar

half to two-thirds full. Also, sprouts take up a lot

of space. Try making a sandwich using sprouts instead

of lettuce. You will find that when you press the

slices of bread together that the sprouts crush right

down to very little. So eat your sprouts!

 

How should sprouts be eaten? Raw, that's how. (Soy

sprouts would be the exception here: they are better

cooked.) When you make a salad, use sprouts for a

base instead of lettuce. Then add the cut-up

vegetables that you like best on top of the sprouts.

Feel free to use different salad dressings if you

wish. I am in favor of ANY dressing that gets you to

eat a lot of sprouts.

 

Should you find that you have too many sprouts ready

on a given day, you can refrigerate them. I suggest

loosely covering the jar opening with a " Baggie " or

other sandwich beg to keep the moisture level inside

about right. Avoid storing the sprouts in the back or

bottom of the refrigerator where it is coldest.

Frozen sprouts do not appeal to most people!

 

If I had just one piece of health advice to give to a

person, it would be to eat a lot of sprouts. People

who do are so much healthier. There's only one way to

prove this for yourself, and that is to TRY it for

yourself.

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.