Edible Sprouts

It's always fun being able to grow your own food. It's cheaper than buying groceries and you get to monitor its growth the entire time. What's even more fun, is being able to grow your own food in a jar on your kitchen counter without the need of sunlight...perfect for apartment living! Here is how to grow your own sprouts which you can put on sandwiches, salads, in stirfry, soups and stews. They are excellent sources of protein, vitamins and minerals and add a nice crunch to pretty much any type of dish. Seeds for sprouting at home are usually available in many health food stores and some grocery stores. The most common type of seeds used for sprouting are alfalfa, mung bean, soybean, lentil, cabbage, radish and rye. Make sure when you buy them that they are organic because some seeds are treated with pesticides and meant to go in the ground only, not directly into your stomach. Check out this chart to decide which sprouting seed you might want to try:

I went with mung bean because I love mung bean sprouts on top of my pad thai. You will also need a clean mason jar and a swatch of cheese cloth.

 

Based on the chart above I measured out 1 cup of my dried mung beans. This measurement might change a bit depending on the size of your jar. You must leave room for water and air to circulate around the seeds in order to get healthy sprouts. You don't want them to ferment and spoil, which they will do if left sitting in water too long.

 

Next, measure and cut a piece of cheesecloth to fit on top of the mason jar and secure the screw-top ring. This is how you are going to drain the water from your jar each day so make sure it is on tightly.

 

Next, rinse the seeds with cold water through your cheesecloth screen and drain well. Then fill the jar with lukewarm water (the volume of water should be twice the volume of the seeds) and let sit for 12-24 hours in a dark place.

 

24-hours later, your seeds are going to have swelled with water and look like this!

 

Drain the water from the jar through the cheesecloth screen and rinse the seeds once more with lukewarm water. Drain the lukewarm water out as well and let the seeds sit without water until the next day. Be sure to keep your jar out of direct sunlight. Continue to rinse and drain the seeds thoroughly twice-a-day for about three days and then sprouts should appear and be ready to eat! I'll post an update on how mine are doing in the coming days.

The chart comes from H.C. Harrison's Growing Edible Sprouts at Home.