October 2009 Archives

Sproutable Seeds

Most seeds can be sprouted and eaten but avoid sprouting any seeds from plants that may have poisonous parts. Common seeds for sprouting include alfalfa, fenugreek, sunflower, lentils, peas, radish, and red clover. Mung beans have been sprouted in Asia for thousands of years, but take more equipment and time than other seeds. Other less common seeds include kale, cabbage, broccoli, garbanzos, pumpkin, mustard seed, and quinoa. Most grains can grow chlorophyll rich grass crops in soil, and grains without hulls can be used as short sprouts. Save garden seeds -sunflower and radish seeds are easy, just let them go to seed and harvest when dry and ripe. Caragana seeds make delicious sprouts.  The seeds you buy must be high germination (90%+), preferably organic and labeled for sprouting.  For beginners, it is recommended that you only grow one type of sprout at a time, as they can all have different growth times.

Roasted or salted nuts, seeds, grains, and beans will not sprout. Some hulled seeds sprout, but have a shorter seed shelf life. Raw almonds and peanuts can be successfully sprouted without their shells. In general, most nuts are not recommended because they take weeks to germinate and may not taste good. Large beans such as black, red, navy, lima, pinto and kidney beans will all sprout; but don't taste good in the raw sprouted form because they're pretty starchy. Some grains are good sprouters. Hard and soft wheat, rye, and triticale all sprout well. Oats, barley millet, and brown rice sprout well, but are not very flavorful.

 How Much Does it Yield?

A very small amount of seeds will give back very high yields. Here's an example: five tablespoons of alfalfa seeds (1/3 cup) will give you over a pound of fresh sprouts, at a cost of 30 cents!!  This is why sprouting is so affordable and a great way to stretch the family food budget! But these babies need room to grow, for they are big producers. Alfalfa sprouts increase in volume over 32 times from seed to sprout! If 3.5 pounds of alfalfa seeds cost $13.95 and yield over 128 pints, that's only 11 cents a pint. Buy that same pint at a store and it would cost at least 99 cents. This can really add up!

An 8 oz. bag of seeds equals 1 cup. Using the equation above, that would yield over 3 pounds of sprouts, at a total cost of less than $1.00. Now that's family friendly and budget wise.
 
5 Inexpensive, Common Household Items You Will Need To Start

1.   A glass jar, wide mouth, 1qt. to gallon (1 to 4 liters) size, depending on your appetite for sprouts and size of your family. Quart canning jars are a bit small, with little room for the little darlings to grow.  I personally like half gallon jars.

2.   Something to prop up the jar at a 45 degree angle - I use a wood dish drainer as shown below.

3.   Netting. It can be wire window screening, stockings/hosiery, nylon tulle, or a  cheesecloth. Anything that allows the soaking water to drain through at the jar's mouth.

4.   Rubber band to hold screen in place over the open mouth of jar.

5.   Fresh water. I like to use distilled or bottled water.

Next, purchase your seeds and you're ready to get sprouting!

 
Easy Sprouting Directions (for most smaller seeds)
 
Sprouting from scratch is very easy. The seeds do all the work. All you have to do is water and rinse them. A minute or two, twice a day is all it takes.  You can start a fresh batch in the mornings. It's better to grow in smaller quantities and eat fresh sprouts than to grow larger quantities and store them in the refrigerator for days on end. I have had sprouts go bad this way, even when stored in green bags - sometimes less is more. By sprouting less at a time, you can also keep a fresh rotation of sprouts.
 
Your seeds need to be soaked in water so that they can expand. The sprouting process begins as the seeds absorb sufficient water to activate the germination process. Sprouts are unique in that they absorb nutrients from the water. They can also absorb contaminants. Your sprouts will taste better and be healthier when sprouted in pure, clean water.

1. Soak your seeds. for 6-8 hours. Put 1 to 4 tablespoons of seeds in your wide mouth glass jar. Cover with netting and secure with a rubber band. Add water, swirl, and drain. Then add 1 cup cool water and soak seeds for 6- 8 hrs.  The rule of thumb for smaller seeds (kale, alfalfa, broccoli, clover, radish, etc.) is two tablespoons of seeds in a half gallon jar.

2. Rinse. Twice a day, swirl and drain out the stale water.  Once in the morning and once in evening (12 hours apart). Invert jar by propping at a 45 angle on your dish drainer. The reason for this is to insure proper water drainage, and air circulation. If the jar is placed straight up and down, then no air circulates through the jar and seeds are on top of one another - this can cause mold.

Again, sprouts grown in a jar expand and fill the jar, and need to have proper aeration.

The residue left on the sides of the jar is putrefaction. This is why I thoroughly rinse my sprouts each and every day, once in the morning and once at night.

 
Repeat Step 2 For 2-3 Days

Keep the seeds in a warm dark place for the first 3 days, under a kitchen cabinet in a perfect location.  On the 4th day, place them in diffused or indirect sunlight this way they can begin to develop chlorophyll and they will begin to turn green. This is a vital step as we need the chlorophyll. Never place the sprouts in direct sunlight as they will wilt or die.

Viable seeds have stored nutrients which multiply when sprouted. Sprouts achieve their maximum nutrient density after the first 2-5 days of growth. When the sprouts are ready to harvest, remove them from their jar and place them in a cool bath of water. You can now gently shake and rinse the hulls off your sprouts by using your hands. Hold a handful of sprouts, make a S pattern with them and soon you will see the hulls float to the top of the water and attach themselves to the side of your sink. Place the rinsed sprouts in a strainer and repeat this process until all of the hulls are removed from your sprouts. Place them in a green storage bag in your refrigerator for up to one week.

 
 For larger seeds and beans, such as sunflowers, lentils, garbanzo, and pumpkin, soak up to ½ cup of seeds for up to a day (until little tails start to appear) instead of 6-8 hours as was suggested for the smaller seeds.  The rest of the instructions are the same.

Enjoy.  Your sprouts should be ready to harvest in 3-6 days when they are about 3 - 5 centimeters or 1 - 2 inches long, they should also be a beautiful shade of green.



Harvesting and Storing Sprouts. Sprouts should be harvested when they taste the best. Some people prefer longer, more fibrous sprouts and others like very tender sprouts. Harvest times may vary depending on the seed, amount of watering, and growing temperature.  Most sprouts can be ready to eat in two to three days, this just depends on your liking.

Some sprouts keep well in the refrigerator for one to two weeks after harvesting. Never freeze your sprouts! Storing sprouts in regular plastic bags tends to rot them. I enjoy using the Green Bags as they absorb and remove damaging gases, dramatically extending the life of  sprouts. Some signs of deterioration are bad odor, soft or soggy texture, mold, or darkened sprouts. If some sprouts in a batch go bad, throw out the whole batch and start a new crop.

I like to rinse my bagged sprouts once every 3 days to help them maintain their moisture. Leafy green sprouts generally keep in the refrigerator for 7-14 days after maturity depending on variety and season. Bean/legume sprouts last 10-21 days. Store dry seeds in glass jar with sealed lids. Keep in them in a cool place, ideally away from heat and light.

Be sure to check Splendor In The Raw's NEWS tab next Thursday, when I'll present Part 4 of our Fall Sprouting Series.


 

GROWING YOUR OWN SPROUTS

By growing your own sprouts you will save yourself a ton of money. It is a lot cheaper to buy the sprout seeds, grow and harvest the sprouts rather than buying them from your local grocery store. Growing your own sprouts will also allow you to enjoy them when they are at their absolute freshest and tastiest. Imagine the simple pleasure of grabbing a handful of these beauties from their growing container, rinsing them and then gobbling them up! It's fantastic! Because home grown spouts are fresher, they contain higher levels of nutrients. By growing your own sprouts you choose which varieties of sprouts you add to your diet. You're not limited to what's just available at your local market. I heard someone say once that sprouts are the fast food of gardening and that's true and that funny fact stuck with me.


FOOD POISONING AND SPROUTS

There have been many news stories regarding salmonella and or e-coli contamination in sprouts. These have been combined with warnings from the FDA that sprouts could be contaminated with food poisoning bacteria and advising the very old, the very young, and those with compromised immune systems to avoid raw sprouts. So it's no wonder folks are afraid to try sprouts let alone understand all the amazing health benefits they hold. Who knows for sure why or how those sprouts became contaminated. I just say all the more reason to sprout your own! You know exactly where the seeds came from what's going into them and how they are being handled.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO BE EXTRA SAFE?

Use certified organic seeds. Organic certification assures that seeds have been grown and handled in a manner that helps minimize possible sources of contamination. Manure used on organic fields, for example, must be composted for a long period. Composting has been shown to reduce or eliminate pathogens in manure. Organic farmers are also required to use rodent- and bird-proof storage for seeds to be used for human consumption. Make sure that any seeds you buy have been handled as a food crop and not a farm planting seed crop. Find this information out before you buy.

Seeds that have been in contact with animals or animal waste could be contaminated with salmonella or e-coli, leading to food poisoning. Reputable sprouting seed suppliers test all lots of seeds for contamination.

Treat sprouts and foods containing sprouts as you would any nutritious food - refrigerate them until used.

Be sure to check Splendor In The Raw's NEWS tab next Thursday, when I'll present Part 3 of our Fall Sprouting Series.


 

I believe that sprouts are so important to a healthy lifestyle that I'm going to devote four weeks of news articles to talking about 1) Why we should eat them, 2) Why we should grow them ourselves, 3) What we can sprout, and, drum roll, 4) How to sprout!  So, here's Part 1 of the Fall Sprouting Series - Why Sprouts?

If eating raw foods has you wondering if you can afford it - wait till you hear how inexpensive and simple it is to grow abundant amounts of your own food, indoors, all year around... for pennies a pound!  Growing your own sprouts is one way to get nutritious, and inexpensive, fresh, organic foods year 'round.  Why sprouts?  Read on...

There are so many reasons to eat fresh sprouts that I can't even begin to count them all.  Sprouts are always a delicious, fresh, colorful, organic and healthy addition to any food - whether you are eating a salad, sandwich or a super gourmet meal. Sprouts are a perfect match! They contain essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes - all necessary and vital for the body to function optimally. In addition to providing the greatest amount of these nutrients, sprouts deliver them in a form that is easily digested and assimilated. In fact, they actually improve the efficiency of digestion. Sprouts supply the highest amount of vitamins, minerals and enzymes of any food per unit of calorie! Sprouts nourish and strengthen the whole body, including the vital immune system.  Sprouts are so inexpensive (even when organic) they are always fresh (they grow until you chew them) and I also believe that they  have the potential to help solve hunger and malnutrition problems in our communities and in developing countries. Because sprouts are so rich in nutrients, affordable, and easy to transport as seeds prior to sprouting, world hunger could truly be a thing of the past. Sprouts are always abundant, especially important in the winter when the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables are declining and their prices are increasing.
 
A lot of us depend on fresh produce that is transported across half a continent. True, we may garden in the summer or shop our local farmer's markets, but winter stops all but the most dedicated, or most southern, gardeners and small farms. By sprouting at home, we can supply delicious, healthy, fresh food to ourselves and our families - without the environmental drawbacks of large corporation farm raised produce - at a fraction of the cost.
 
Sprouting at home takes only a few minutes a day and can produce a good part of your daily nutritional requirements.  Because they're grown right in your kitchen counter/garden, they have not been in cold storage, or on supermarket shelves, losing valuable nutrients. If you can supply a glass jar, some screen or netting (hosiery, stockings or cheesecloth works well too), rinse the sprouts twice a day, you can grow delicious organic sprouts in 4 to 6 days.
 
As you become accustomed to eating sprouts, you'll eat more sprouts! Many people find that as they increase sprouts in their diet, they eat fewer unhealthy foods. Since the body is receiving a healthy dose of nutrients, the brain lessens the body's craving for excessive (and unhealthy) eating. Sprouts generally are associated with healthy weight loss.  Try sprouting a variety of seeds and harvest them at different stages to determine which you and your family members like best. You'll discover delightful ways to incorporate them into your meals. There are dozens of amazingly tasty sproutable seeds with different flavors, shapes, and textures.  The opportunities to add them to salads, sandwiches and other delectable raw dishes become endless.
 
Sprouting takes barely any time at all to do - if you can squeeze a five minute daily commitment to sprouting into your busy lifestyle, you will always have a fresh supply of organic produce at hand.

Be sure to check Splendor In The Raw's NEWS tab next Thursday, when I'll present Part 2 of our Fall Sprouting Series - Why We Should Grow Sprouts Ourselves!  Bye for now!

I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Angela Stokes (now Stokes-Monarch) and her husband Matt Monarch at the Raw Spirit Festival held in Santa Barbara, California, this past June. I found them both to be amazingly delightful people, very grounded and each gifted in their own right. The thing that struck me the most was just truly how much love they have for one another. My interview took place a few weeks before there nuptials, so you can imagine the kind of energy that they were putting out. It was pure magic!

I talked with both Angela and Matt separately, so I am bringing you both those interviews. Matt's aired on Sept. 24 and now Angela's.

For more information about Angela, visit her website at http://www.rawreform.com.

Here is what Angela had to say during our interview...