SPROUTING INTEREST IN VEGGIES

As flower buds continue bursting into color, and new plants emerge from your gardens, many folks have been sprouting interest in growing vegetables indoors. What would you think if you could harvest vegetables in less than one week from sowing your seeds? While this may defy logic, Chinese have been sprouting vegetable seeds, and eating their young shoots and roots as a valuable source of nutrition for over 5000 years. Accounts of sprouting appear in the Bible in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, and are now widely used in health foods such as breads, crackers, cereals, supplements, sandwich wraps and ready-to-eat fresh from your local grocer and gourmet restaurants. The sprouting process is simple, fun and a great way to get many of the benefits from vegetables without waiting months for a garden harvest. The best part; seeds are inexpensive, and you do not need soil, fertilizer or even a yard to grow edible sprouts. There are many edible seeds you can sprout, such as: all bean varieties, alfalfa, sunflower, broccoli, clover, radish, arugula, cress, dill, fenugreek, mustard and grains such as, barley, wheat, rye, oats, spelt, millet, amaranth, corn and rice! Mix them in a stir fry, whirl them in soup, or sprinkle them atop your favorite salad; sprouts will add a fresh, nutritious and delicious addition to almost any meal.

Anyone can grow edible sprouts, even if you don’t have a particularly green thumb. The method for sprouting all seeds is the same, though the length required to accomplish germination may vary depending on the size and variety of seed. Simply fill a wide-mouth, quart sized mason jar one-third full with any edible seed you desire to grow. Then, add filtered water to the top of the jar. Typically, you need three parts water to one part seed, if you use less water, your seeds may not sprout. You may wish to purchase an official sprouting lid, which is a simple plastic screen, or just use basic cheesecloth, and then fasten the screen or cheesecloth tightly on the jar with the ring lid. Allow your seeds to soak for 8-12 hours and then pour off all water, followed by rinsing your seed under a faucet with lots of water at high pressure, and room temperature. The high pressure helps to clean the seeds (soon to be sprouts) and infuses them with oxygen, as well as keeping them loose, which further helps with the draining process. Once rinsed, invert the jar and let it sit at an angle so it can drain and allow air to permeate the jar. The seed need to be rinsed a minimum of 2-3 times per day for optimal sprouting. Leave your jar inverted after each rinse, so that it thoroughly drains. Consider your sprouting vessel a micro-garden, which prefers sunshine, 70 degree temperature, good air circulation, drainage and regular moisture for best success. By placing your sprouting jar next to a sunny window, and occasionally opening the window for better air exchange, your sprouts will thank you by accelerating germination, as well as increasing their abundance of vitamins and minerals. Within one day to two weeks, your sprouts will be ready to eat. You can tell that sprouts are ready by looking for visible roots and shoots that will emerge from the seed. Allow the shoots to grow at least one quarter inch before consuming, though waiting for shoots and roots to grow longer may be more to your liking. Experiment, and decide at what stage you prefer to eat your sprouts. Once they are ready to devour, drain all water from jar, and replace your screen lid with the original solid lid, and store the sprouts in the refrigerator. There is no quicker way to kill sprouts than by refrigerating them wet, so make sure you have drained off all excess moisture before sending them to cold storage.

Some seeds such as baby salad greens, wheat grass and sunflower can be sprouted and harvested for their vegetation. Though a bit more intensive, the process is still easier than growing a full-fledged backyard garden, and the results can be amazing. Prepare a horticultural planting tray by filling with a medium of vermiculite, soil-less organic potting mix, or a sheet of coconut fiber, better known as coir. The vermiculite or potting soil needs to be approximately two inches depth, or simply cut and lay the coir fabric to fit flush across the entire base of the tray. You will need a drip tray beneath your horticultural flat to catch the water that drains off after each watering. Then, simply soak desired seeds in room temperature filtered water for 8-12 hours. Rinse and drain seeds 4-5 more times over the course of the next two days. The goal is to have a small roots before planting seeds in your tray. Thoroughly saturate vermiculite, organic potting soil or coir pad with water prior to sowing seeds in tray. Sprinkle seeds evenly across growing medium heavily, allowing seeds to touch one another for best coverage. Once seeded, cover the tray with an inverted nontransparent tray to keep light out and moisture in. A hand sprayer works best to keep trays moist, but keep in mind that too much moisture can cause fungus attacks, which could destroy your delicious crop. The coir pad will require more water than vermiculite or potting soil, so keep this in mind when planning your water regimen. A organic Liquid Sea Kelp fertilizer diluted with water and mixed in your hand spray bottle is suggested to apply every other watering for maximum flavor and health of your sprouted greens. After 3-4 days, when your sprouts reach 2-3 inches tall, remove the inverted lid and place your sprouted greens near a sunny window or under a florescent light, and watch them grow! You will need to add more water during this period of rapid growth, once or twice daily, as they are prone to drying out. It takes about ten days to be ready for harvest. Your shoots will be 4-6 inches tall, and will have their first set of leaves (cotyledons) unfurled, and typically the hulls will have fallen away. If the second set of leaves emerge (the true leaves), then you have waited too long to harvest, and your sprouted green may taste bitter. To harvest, simply cut the greens just above the medium and enjoy. While best eaten fresh, sprouted greens can be stored in your refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, Bon Appetite!

The miraculous process of germination produces large quantities of vitamin A,C, E, B2, B5 and B6, as well as increasing Carotene levels as much as eightfold. Mineral increases such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc and niacin are common in sprouted seeds, as well as beneficial chlorophyll. As significant, sprouts are attributed to neutralizing phytic acid, a substance that inhibits the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. Also, the sprouting process neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, which could otherwise inhibit our very own necessary enzymes in our digestive tract, while producing other enzymes that actually help digestion. Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrition, and they taste great too! At Marvin’s Organic Gardens, we offer dozens of certified organic sprouting seeds and sprouting kits, so that you will be equipped with all the accoutrements for sprouting your very own organic, edible seeds. Come visit us this spring at Marvin’s Organic Gardens, “Where Plants and People Bloom!“ For questions and comments, please contact Wes Duren at wes@marvinsorganicgardens.com