Sprouting seeds in your kitchen.
In Prairie winter households, local, fresh produce can be in short supply. This doesn’t have to be the reality.
Local greenhouses continue to expand their growing seasons and the supply of fresh produce increases each year. With a few seeds and some water, fresh, nutrient-rich sprouts can be grown in your own kitchen, year round.
Sprouts are tiny growing plants, germinated from seeds. The sprouting process triggers multiplication of proteins, transforms carbohydrates into simple sugars for energy and combines minerals with amino acids for greater assimilation into the human body. Sprouts are an excellent source of antioxidants. A few seeds recommended for sprouting include alfalfa, red clover, sunflower, almond, broccoli, buckwheat, chickpea, lentil, mung bean, mustard, radish, sesame, soybean and wheat.
Sprouting seeds is easy. Only a few supplies are needed: a small amount of good quality seeds, a large glass or clear plastic jar with a wide opening (such as a quart-sized jar used for canning pickles) and a square of nylon mesh or screen along with a rubber band that will fit over the mouth of the jar.
The first step in the sprouting process is soaking the seeds. Place seeds in bottom of the jar. Cover the seeds with clean, potable water at room temperature. Soak smaller seeds like broccoli or radish for six hours and larger seeds like beans or peas for 12 hours. After this soaking or swelling stage, pour out the water through the mesh and rinse the seeds with fresh water.
After soaking, draining and rinsing the seeds, place the jar in a dark place at room temperature. Wait for the seeds to germinate: this can take anywhere from one to 12 days, depending on the seed. While waiting for germination, the seeds should be rinsed at least twice daily (morning and evening), and preferably three times per day. Always use clean water near room temperature for rinsing. Once the seeds begin to produce leaves, place the container in a bright spot to allow green chlorophyll in the leaves to develop. Never place any sprouting seeds in direct sun. Sprouts are ready to eat as soon as leaves or roots are visible.
Sprouts that lose their hulls, i.e. sunflowers, need to be cleaned in a different manner than seeds without hulls. Once the sunflowers have sprouted, place them in a sink or a big bowl filled with water. Gently separate the hulls from the sprouts using your fingers. The hulls will rise or sink in the water and must be manually removed from the sprouts.
Sprouts can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks. Keep them in a sealed container and rinse with cool water every two days. One of the main concerns with sprouting seeds is contamination of the sprouts with a harmful bacteria such as Salmonella. The key to avoiding this risk of infection is to purchase and sprout seeds that are sold for sprouting purposes and have been tested for pathogens.
For extra insurance, one can add 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of vinegar OR five drops of food grade hydrogen peroxide (35 per cent) OR 1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide (3 per cent) to 500 ml of water for soaking seeds. The best way to avoid disease is to purchase seeds from a reputable source such as:
Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds — located in Parkside, Saskatchewan (sprouting.com)
Sprout Master — Elmvale, Ontario (sproutmaster.com)
Eatmore Sprouts — Courtenay, BC (eatmoresprouts.com)
For more detailed information about sprouting seeds, I recommend the book “The Wonders of Sprouting” by Lucie Desjarlais, available from your favourite sprouting seed supplier.
Happy Sprouting!
Jackie gardens on an acreage just outside Saskatoon.
This column is provided courtesy of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society (SPS; www.saskperennial.ca; hortscene@yahoo.com; www.facebook.com/saskperennial). Check out our Bulletin Board or Calendar for upcoming garden information sessions, workshops, tours and other events: February 28, 7:30 @ Emmanuel Anglican Church, 607 Dufferin Ave — SPS AGM followed by Japanese Garden Design presentation.