(Ed: for books on Sprouting, and related books, see the lists at the end of this article)
10 reasons to start sprouting!
1. Economics
Seeds can become 7-15 times their dry weight. Thus 500g of seeds, which cost £1.20, will yield approx. 10 times that weight in sprouts, costing 12p for 500g of fresh sprouted indoor-grown organic greens!
2. Nutrition
Sprouts are baby plants in their prime. At this stage of their growth, they have a greater concentration of proteins, vitamins and minerals, enzymes, RNA, DNA, bio-flavonoids, T-cells etc than any other point in the plant's life - even when compared with the mature vegetable!
3. Organic
No chemicals, pesticides and insecticides or questions about certification. You can trust it's pure because you are the grower.
4. Availability
Wherever you are, at home, travelling, trekking, on a boat, you can sprout.
5. Space/Time
It's easy! Just add water! No soil. No bugs. No green fingers required. No special light or heating systems. A 2 glass sprouter takes up 12" x 4" of worktop, a natural hemp bag can be left on the draining board or hung near the sink. Maintenance - rinsing takes 1-2 minutes per day.
6. Freshness
Because they are eaten the same day that they are picked there is no loss of nutrients whilst sitting in crates, travelling or on supermarket shelves.
7. Digestibility
Because sprouts are baby plants, their delicate cells walls release nourishment easily. Their nutrients exist in elemental form and the abundance of enzymes make them easy to digest even for those with weak digestion.
8. Versatility
More varieties of salad greens than on your supermarkets shelves, including buckwheat and sunflower salads, baby sunflower sprouts, French onion, garlic, chive, Chinese cabbage, purple turnip, curly kale, radish, red clover, golden alfalfa, fenegreek, chick pea, mung bean - your salads will never be boring again!
9. Meals
Make sprout breads from sprouted wheat, rye and barley. Snacks from sprouted peanuts, hummus dip from sprouted gabanzo, stir fried mung, aduki and lentil.
10. Ecology
Grown locally, no fuel/oil consumed in delivering these foods to you! You can become less dependent on distant food sources, energy and technology. You don't have to be at the mercy of the giant agri-business - you can take steps to become more self-sufficient.
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Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a native plant of South America – grown by the Incas in the mountains of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. The protein content of quinoa is the highest of any grain at 16.2% - some wheats come close but corn, barley and rice are no competition. Like soyabeans, quinoa is exceptionally high in lysine as well as other amino acids Pheylalanine, Tyrosine, Cystine and Methionine. Quinoa is available organic and fair traded in the UK.
“I like Quinoa as a grain. It is a great nutritional seed, very high in protein and easy to digest. But I do not promote it as a sprout for three reasons: It is hard to acquire the unhulled seed. When you do find it, the germination is too low. That leads to potential mold and rot problems, which I consider unsafe. Lastly, the sprout it makes in 3 days is a relatively insignificant shoot. If you grow it for 7 days it turns into a red grass which too chewy to eat. It takes very minimal cooking to enjoy the grain, so that is how I include it in my diet.”
Steve Meyerowitz, September 2004
It is difficult to get unhulled quinoa for sprouting in the US and indeed in the UK too. It can only grow with its saponin rich sheath on and intact. The hulled quinoa we can buy in healthfoods shops is polished ie has had the sheath removed. To eat as a grain like brown rice – it is a very light grain like millet, really tasty, takes about 15 minutes to cook, is easily digested and a great way to increase plant based protein in our diets to replace animal sources.
When to harvest your crop
Young, leafy green sprouts are at their nutritional peak when the bud develops a cleft (divides into a left and right leaf) and drops its hull. Harvest time is when 90% of the crop is hull-free and has two leaves.
Number of days to grow
5-6 days
Radish, Cabbage, Kale, Turnip, Mustard
7 days
Alfalfa, Clover
8-12 days
Buckwheat, Fenugreek, Red Lentil, Sunflower, Wheatgrass
12-14 Days
Garlic, Onion, Chia, Psylium
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THE FRESHLIFE AUTOMATIC SPROUTER
The FreshLife Sprouter is a fantastic indoor sprouter for use in room temperatures of 65°F to 85°F (18.3°C to 29.4°C). It features an automatic sprinkling system to produce fresh, nutritional and tender sprouts. Is inexpensive to operate and easy to clean. Can be a great educational experience for children. Enables you to enjoy nutritional 100% Organic, natural food all year round.
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Sprouts have gained a reputation as nutritional superfoods ~ concentrated,
chlorophyll-rich energy, enzymes and vitamins. With very little initial outlay you can start growing your own fresh, organic sprouts ~ and within days you have sprouts in your favourite combinations, for salads, sandwiches, and breadmaking.
You will be in excellent company ~ even NASA has developed a sprouting system in the space shuttle so that astronauts can maintain a fresh food source during flights.
You can use attractive sprouting kits comprising glass jars with mesh tops of stainless steel, a ceramic tray for drainage and a drainage rack that allows the jars to rest in a sloping position. These can be used for sprouting seeds that
need lots of light, like alfalfa and fenugreek. The jars have wide tops to make cleaning easy. The jars stand the right way up on day 1 when you soak the
seeds and for day 2 onwards they stand upside down in a sloping position for good drainage while the seeds germinate (sprout).
Natural hemp and flax bags are available for sprouting lentils, chick peas, aduki beans and mung beans. The material is strong, hard wearing, not highly
processed, washes well, allows good drainage for the sprouts, has a high
moisture absorbency, and is 20% stronger when wet than when dry. The
special honeycomb (huckerback) weave ensures its durability making it ideal
for sprouting. And they are cheap!
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Try the NEW Sprouting Starter Kit: 3 different sprouting seeds, 3 Flax & Hemp Sproutbags and Sproutman Sprout Chart.
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Sprouts are so easy to grow!
Soak your seeds, beans or pulses in a jar of pure water overnight.
If you are using the hemp bag - pour soaked seeds into the pre-moistened sprout bag. Rinse, then hang on hook or knob or lay in the dish rack.
If you are using glass sprouting jars, put the mesh lid on the sprouting jar, drain off the soak water and rinse. Then leave glass jar in the inverted position in the rack to drain.
Rinse twice a day, about 12 hours apart, by either immersing the bag in pure water for at least 30 seconds or rinsing in the jar and placing back in the rack.
Books about Sprouting (All available from Wholistic Research Company}
The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore. Price: £7.95
Sprouts - the Miracle Food by Steve Meyerowitz. Price: £12.95
related books that also discuss sprouting (all available from Wholistic Research Company: check general health books or search on title)
The Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Steve Meyerowitz. Price: £14.95
Living Foods for Optimum Health by Brian Clement. Price: £15.25
Diet & Salad Suggestions by Dr Norman Walker. Price: £6.95
Power Juices Super Drinks by Steve Meyerowitz. Price: £14.95
The Earth On Which We Live by Marijke Vogel. Price: £14.99
The Joy of Juicing by Gary Null. Price: £10.95
The Healing Power of Chlorophyll by Bernard Jensen. Price: £9.95
Juicing Therapy by Dr Bernard Jensen. Price: £14.95
Hippocrates Diet & Health Program by Ann Wigmore. Price: £9.95
Nature Has A Remedy by Bernard Jensen. Price: £14.95
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