Sprouts!

"Wanted! A vegetable that will grow in any climate, will rival meat in nutritive value, will mature in 3 to 5 days, may be planted any day of the year, will require neither soil nor sunshine, will rival tomatoes in vitamin C, will be free of waste in preparation, and can be cooked with little fuel and as quickly as a ... chop." ~Dr. Clive McKay, Nutrition Professor at Cornell University

This past week it has been snowing in Boston with below freezing temperatures at night. Just a tad too cold to start vegetables. Here's a picture of the snow one morning. Beautiful and cold as ever.


And I recently found out that the last spring frost date in Boston is May 3rd!!! That's a long time to wait to be able to use my balcony. So I got to thinking creatively. What can I grow now indoors?


Then I stumbled upon the idea of growing sprouts to help supplement my weight in food! Well, they aren't exactly massively weighty, but still, it'd be something, and I could grow them now before spring begins. But what can you do with sprouts besides put them on sandwiches and sprinkle them on salads? Humph...

As I read more about them, I discovered there are three main types of sprouts:

1) salad sprouts
2) bean sprouts
3) grain sprouts

Salad sprouts (alfalfa, clover, broccoli, radish, etc...) each have different tastes! These are particularly great for the sandwiches and salads and do not survive heat well. So not exactly a hearty cooking vegetable. Bean sprouts, on the other hand, can be cooked or blanched (put in a hot water for a minute or so) and added to stir fries or even baked goods. Google it for more info! Grain sprouts (which I have never tried) can be used as grains early on in sprouting or can be juiced when they become more of a grass. Wheatgrass being the most popular, but others that can be used are rye, barley, and other cereal grains. Who knew?

So how do you make sprouts?

Just get a jar and soak the seeds (you can get sprouting seeds in bulk at some grocery stores and definitely online, too) for several hours until they are swollen (many look twice their normal size). Then drain the water. Keep moist and rinse 2-3 times a day (should take you like 30 seconds... not exactly a rigorous washing). It helps to have a mesh or screen or loose cloth over the jar to drain the water without loosing the seeds. Within a few days, sprouts! Store in the refrigerator to help them last longer.



I used a mason jar and a half of an old tea ball to help with the straining. So far it's working quite well.

How did my first attempt go? 48 grams!!! Wahooo-hooo!!!!

Ok, well, doing percentages, uhmm... well, that is only .08% percent of my goal... but hey, you really do need to start somewhere.

I really can't wait for spring!