We feel like proud parents. We watered, swished, rinsed, and nurtured our little alfalfa seeds, and look how grown up they are! At only 6 days old, no less...
How To Grow Your Own Alfalfa Sprouts: Part Two
About a week ago, we decided to grow our own alfalfa sprouts, spurred on by a desire to get more in touch with our food as well as avoid hazards brought to our attention in an alfalfa recall.
We put organic alfalfa seeds (bought at a health food store) in a jar, covered the top with cheesecloth, and rinsed and drained our seeds twice a day. Read the full instructions in How To Grow Your Own Alfalfa Sprouts: Part One.
After three days, we could see white shoots coming out of the seeds. After four or five days, our swishing was no longer a big, loose swirl of seeds but a thumpity thump rolling of a tangle of growing sprouts. This morning, we saw the green tips of the fully grown sprouts, tasted a few, and decided our work was done. We replaced the cheese cloth with the jar top and put them in the refrigerator.
We did have several clumps of un-sprouted seeds left in the jar, as if they didn't have room to grow. Maybe they were casualties of a survival-of-the-fittest environment? Or maybe we should have used fewer seeds. Next time we might try one tablespoon instead of two. As for now, we're buying cream cheese and a good loaf of bread to make sprouts sandwiches.
Anyone else out there growing sprouts? How's it going?
• Want to grow your own sprouts? Start here: How To Grow Your Own Alfalfa Sprouts: Part One
• Our favorite sprouts sandwich: Sprouts and Cream Cheese on Whole Grain Bread
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GREEN IDEAS, Gardening, Ingredients - Vegetables, organic, alfalfa, sproutsRelated Links
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Yay sprouts! I got a Bioset sprouter (tinyurl.com/24guo3) for Xmas, and have been happily sprouting since. I've got mung bean and broccoli going right now. I love sprouts with hummus, and on egg salad in pita bread! There seem to be a lot of Indian recipes that use sprouted beans too - gotta explore that....
view SisterRae's profile
Wow... what a fantastic idea. Kudos!
view Darlene's profile
I grew sprouts about a month ago for the first time, and had so much fun doing it. surprisingly easy and very tasty. I also had a lot of seeds left over, and was considering using less next time.
If you don't have cheese cloth, then I just used a panty hoe foot cut off.
view eryn's profile
Thank you so much for documenting this. I've always wanted to try but for some reason...just...didn't.
Now I will! And I think I'll try the uber nutritious broccoli sprouts to start.
view budino's profile
I just started growing sprouts this week after my order from sproutpeople.com arrived. They have a huge selection of seeds and a lot of great information on their site as well. All of their seeds are organic too. I ordered four different varieties: broccoli, mung, peasant mix, and French mix. The Easygrower container that I ordered was really easy to use. My peasant sprouts are ready today and I can't wait to have some in a salad with our grilled chicken tonight. Happy sprouting!
view pea's profile
Wow, great blog. Thanks for posting this story...
Fresh sprouts are so nutritious, packed full of amino acids - and to debunk a common myth about protein - sprouts are super high in protein.
A wonderful video clip called "The Protein Myth" by Olympic Marathon runner who is 100% raw explains how and why. Check it out here....
http://www.FatGirlTrim.com
view fatgirltrim's profile
I like eating my sprouts with a bagel. I spread some chive and onion cream cheese on, top with sprouts and a slice of tomato and then sprinkle a little salt and pepper and then share the other half with my husband. He hates eating "rabbit food" but he loves this treat!
view lizremus's profile