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How to Grow Sprouts

By: Arlene Wright Correll

I started to grown sprouts when I started doing a lot of oriental cooking simply because in my area it was hard to get fresh sprouts.

Once I realized how simple it was I was amazed at how fast these little seeds did their thing.

Many people use a simple jar to grow sprouts. I like to use a small rectangular tray made especially for the different seeds. All sorts of trays are available including round ones and the trays come in a package of assorted sizes so you can do different kinds of sprouts.

The best seeds are clover and alfalfa seeds and these are good in salads.

The best beans are mung, garbanzo and lentil and these are also good in salads and I use the mung beans in the oriental cooking or add them to home made vegetable burgers. They are great for stir frying.

My one friend purees here seeds and beans for sandwich spreads and veggie dips by adding such things as lemon, garlic and tahini when she wants to make something that has a Middle Eastern flavor or she adds tomato and basil for her Mediterranean flavors.

I have been told that the best nuts are almonds, filberts which are also called hazelnuts, but I have never tried to sprout these.

As to the best grains try wheat berries and rye and when completed many cooks grind them up and bake at low temperatures of 220 degrees F and use in bread or add to recipes for casseroles or to create vegetable burgers.

When you put your seeds in your sprouting element such as a jar or tray you need to know how much to put in at a time. Do not make a lot because they will not be used up as fast as you think unless you have a big family eating them.

When I do small seeds I use 2 or 3 tablespoons at a time and for medium seeds I use a ¼ to ½ cup at a time. For large beans or grains I use 1 cup and I have a friend who sprouts sunflower seeds and she uses 2 cups when she does one batch.

Before I go to bed at night I measure the correct amount of seeds into my tray, inspecting the seeds or beans before I put them into my tray and I discard any broken or withered seeds, remove any small stones or pieces of dirt which some times come in the package. Next I give them a good rinse. Then I put them into my sprouting tray and cover them with about 1 inch or so of water. When I sprout large beans or if you do grains or nuts then you will want to use a large bowl.

Let the seeds soak overnight. Medium size seeds should soak 8 to 10 hours and larger seeds such as nuts should soak any where from 12 to 24 hours.

Your set may come with plastic vented covers, if not cover your jar with cheese cloth and a rubber band the next morning and pour off the water.

Then refill your container, jar or tray with water, giving it some really good shakes and pour off the water again making sure your seeds are almost dry because any water you leave in there will cause your seeds to rot. You may want to recover your container with the cheese cloth and rubber band and put the inverted container leaning upside down inside a bowl or pan to insure complete drainage. That evening repeat the same rinsing and draining process. Day 3 do the same thing again and that evening also. By the end of day 4 or 5 you should have enough alfalfa sprouts completed and ready to eat.

As your days progress you will see green leaves sprouting on seeds and white shoots on beans, nuts and grains.

Once you get the hang of it you may find that this will become a second nature process to you besides being very healthy.

Author Resource:->
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To see Arlene’s Gardens and click on Arlene’s Books you can download or buy my gardening & cook books. All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for your attention to this site.

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