How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

Sprouts are packed with nutrients. Just imagine how much nutritional energy a seed would need to become a plant. Sprouts are a great source of protein. Sprouts also contain a lot of enzymes. Eating enzymes from raw food not only helps you digest your food better, but it provides enzymes for you body to perform the millions of biochemical reactions daily that are also know as your metabolism. They are also packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. There is a reason sprouts are referred to as a SUPER food.

Sprout Nutrition

Sprout	Protein	Vitamins	Amino Acids	Minerals	More
Alfalfa	35%	A, B, C, E, K		Calcium,Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc	As much Carotene as carrots. Chlorophyll
Adzuki	25%	A, C, E	All except Tryptophan	Iron, Niacin, Calcium
Buckwheat	15%	A, C, E		Calcium	Lecithin
Clover	30%	A, B, C, E		Calcium,Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc	Trace Elements
Fenugreek	30%	A		Iron, Niacin, Calcium	Digestive Aid
Garbanzo	20%	A, C, E		Iron, Calcium, Magnesium
Lentil	25%	A, B, C, E		Iron, Calcium, Phosphorus
Mung Bean	20%	A, C, E		Iron, Potassium
Pea	20%	A, B, C	All Essential		Carbohydrates
Radish	Yes	C		Potassium	Chlorophyll
Sunflower Greens	Yes	B Complex, E		Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium	Chlorophyll
Wheat(and Rye)	15%	B Complex, C, E		Magnesium, Phosphorus	Pantothenic Acid, Carbohydrates

(from http://sproutpeople.org/growing-sprouts/sprout-nutrition/)

I love sprouts, but I can rarely find them at the supermarket. When I do find them they go bad very quickly. So I decided to grow my own. It's really easy. There are fancy sprout growing kits you can buy, but all you really need is some specific sprouting seeds, a mason jar, and some cheesecloth. 

There are tonnes of varieties of plants you can sprout, from alfalfa, radish, sunflower, and there are mixes of several different seeds. For this time I sprouted mung beans. These make the big juicy sprouts that are good in stir fries. I got the seeds at my local health food store.

Here's how you do it:

1)

Choose the type of seeds you want to sprout. Then get a large mason jar and a square of cheesecloth. You take the lid off and replace the round metal disc with some cheesecloth. There are special sprouting lids you can buy for the jar that you can strain through. I haven't found one yet, and the cheesecloth works just fine.

2)

Following the directions on the package, you add the desired amount of seeds to the jar (I used 2tbsp here), and cover them in about 1 cup of water. You leave the seeds to soak for several hours. For the mung beans the package says 2-6 hours. I usually leave them to soak overnight.

* Note - They do not have to be in a well lit area.

3)

After the appropriate amount of soaking time, pour the water out of the jar through the cheesecloth. The cheesecloth keeps all the seeds in the jar. Rinse the seeds once or twice. You want to rinse them well as the seeds release toxins while they soak. You should rinse and drain the seeds 2-3 times a day.

4)

Once the seeds are drained, you place the jar at an inverted 45 degree angle. This allows excess water to drain out. I like to make sure there is a little water remaining in the jar for the beans to soak up.

5)

After one day the seeds have split open and you can see the tiny seed germ emerging.

After day 2 the spouts are beginning to grow. You can eat the sprouts at this point. I prefer to wait for them to get longer though.

Day 3

Day 4

The sprouts are ready to be eaten now. You can pour them into a bowl with water and all the seed shells will float to the top enabling you to strain them out. I just eat them. To store the sprouts you can put the jar in the fridge, I leave the cheesecloth on as you should continue to rinse the sprouts once a day.

The sprouts are great additions to salads, sandwiches, wraps, stir fries, I ate some with my eggs this morning. I really love how easy it is to grow your own food. This would be a lot of fun for kids as well.

Enjoy your food!