Sprouts are the impatient gardener’s dream. You get nutrient packed sprouts ready to eat in as little as a week. I ‘planted’ mine last Tuesday and one week later, I’ve had my first sprout containing meal – a salad topped with spicy radish sprouts.
Sprouts contain a range of vitamins and minerals, and are a tasty addition to salads and sandwiches. The good news is you can grow them in any season and you don’t need a lot of room. All you need is a clean jar, a piece of cloth, a rubber band, a bowl and some seeds for sprouting.
Here’s how:
1.To get started, soak about a tablespoon of seeds in water overnight. This will help kick start the germination process.
2.Rinse the seeds in fresh water in the morning, and drain. Place the seeds in a jar, put the cloth over the top of the lid and wrap around the rubber band to enclose. Turn the jar upside down and leave to rest in a bowl on an angle so any extra water can drain out.
3. Repeat step 2 each morning and evening and you’ll start to see small sprouts come from the seeds within a few days. Continue for a few days and you’ll start to see the shoots coming through. They’ll be ready to eat within 7 days – store in the refrigerator after this time period and eat within a day or two.
You can also grow in containers, but the jar method is the most popular.
Check out Kings Seeds for a large sprouting seeds. I chose radish sprouts which are nice and peppery just like radishes. Kings Seeds also sell a Sprouting Starter kit which contains mesh lids for jars and a selection of seeds.
Have fun growing your own. Nicola, Eat Well NZ.
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