What are sprouts, and what is sprouting?
Sprouts have significantly more nutrients than when they're fully grown. Sprouts are essentially baby plants, which some are mature in 2-3 days, some take over a week. You can't sprout everything, you'll want good non-GMO sprouting seeds, I'll have a list of good suppliers down below. With sprouts you see usually 2x-8x increase in nutrients compared to fully grown plants, some even 30x more!
All you need to start sprouting are some seeds, good pure water, and a method, be it a tray, jar, or bag. You don't need soil, though some do much better in soil, like sunflowers. You're simply sprouting them, and eating them! The best part about sprouts is that you can grow them indoors all year round, so you can always have fresh grown food all year.
You can sprout more than just greens too, you can also sprout beans and grains. You can sprout garbanzo beans and make your own hummus, or lentils for lentil soup. You can even sprout your own wheat and grind them up to make sprouted wheat flour!
In summary, sprouts are baby plants that are much more nutrient rich than when fully grown. They can be grown easily indoors all year round, and make a great supplement to your diet!
Most common sprouts
Broccoli
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Alfalfa
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Sunflower
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Clover
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Various Legumes
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Wheat
Make your own flour!
Radish
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Lentils
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Barley
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Various Nuts
This legume is still used in medicine, food and teas. It is a spicy seed that is excellent for making curry. Use when the sprout has grown to 1½ inches long. Fenugreek is often sold where the seeds are broken for making fenugreek tea. Make sure you buy whole fenugreek seed.
What do you need to start sprouting?
First you need good non-GMO sprouting seeds
There are several good trusted sites to get seeds from, the site I use is TrueLeafMarket.com, they have beginner kits, and all sorts of varieties of seeds. They also have seeds for full plants and microgreens, which microgreens are very similar to sprouting except grown in soil and are allowed to grow longer.
Jars, trays, or grow bags
You can use regular mason jars, the best way is to ditch the regular lid and just cut some cheesecloth and put it over the mouth and hold it with a rubber band, easy to drain. Grow trays that can drain, draining is important to prevent mold growth. And grow bags you dont want to have too big, or too small, and be made of all natural materials, bamboo baskets work as well. You can find trays at TrueLeafMarket.com and find jars at most stores. Cheesecloth you find most anywhere, I get organic cotton cheesecloth from here https://www.organiccottonmart.com/products/organic-cotton-cheesecloth.
Good pure water
Like any other plant, or living organism, it needs water. The purer the water, the better. Since you'll grow sprouts hydroponically 95% of the time, it's crucial to have good clean water. Without pure water you could get heavy metals or other contaminants in with your sprouts.
If choosing to use it, soil
Some sprouts do better in soil, like sunflower and peas. If you're sprouting those, then you may want to get some trays and some soil. Just your normal plant soil, use good water and you're all set!
The sprouting process
Realize the power of sprouts
Realize the power of sprouts
Realize the power of sprouts
Many people don't even know what sprouting really is, outside the plant starting to grow. Without knowing the ease of growing sprouts, and their health benefits, you would never think of eating sprouts you grew in your home.
Get non-GMO sprouting seeds
Realize the power of sprouts
Realize the power of sprouts
It is crucial to get good seeds, don't be afraid to shop around to find the best seeds. I've had great success with True Leaf Market, just make sure you're getting non-GMO high germination sprouting seeds and you're good to go!
Soak seeds 8-12 hours
Realize the power of sprouts
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
For most seeds 8-9 is perfect, some seeds need only 6, some need at least 10. Make sure they're soaking in pure water, and not in direct sunlight. I like to start soaking either first thing in the morning, or overnight.
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
After your seeds have soaked, you want to put them in a strainer and rinse them off with high pressure. This will give them one last good cleaning and get any potential contaminants off. Let the water drain off for several minutes, then place the seeds in the container of your choice.
Rinse sprouts 2-3x daily
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
Rinse sprouts 2-3x daily
You have to rinse your sprouts a couple times a day to rinse anything off of them, and to supply them with water. Like before, use high pressure, cool, and pure water to clean them well. After a few days the seed hulls will begin falling off. Take your sprouts and either fill the jar they're in, or dunk the bag/tray in water, and allow the hulls to float to the top, then scoop them up. Hulls are harmless, but can lead to mold issues.
Reap what you sow!
Rinse seeds, drain, and sow
Rinse sprouts 2-3x daily
Once your sprouts are ready, it's as simple as plucking them, bagging them, and refrigerating them. Buy Green Bags HERE to make them last MUCH longer, for all your produce as well. If you see more roots jutting out the sides of the sprout then your sprouts are definitely ready. Some are ready in 2 days like mung beans, some need more than a week like sunflower, most fall around 3-5 days. Do your best to get the seed hulls out, that dead plant matter can effect the sprout longevity I've found. If you're eating them quick it won't matter, just a little fiber.