Gin & Tonic Gardener
One of my readers, Marguerite Hanlon, describes herself as a garden in waiting. I, on the other hand, am a gardener in waiting.
Most of you reading this are gardeners in waiting. We are suffering the deep freeze and thinking longingly about the earth warming in the spring and long summer days. We may be growing a few house plants, but most of us are not what you’d call actively growing anything.
Marguerite, however, is one of those true year-round gardeners who eats freshly grown produce regularly. Marguerite grows sprouts.
I don’t know why I didn’t become a sprout grower back when I felt like a murderer throwing away an avocado seed. (How many avocado seeds suspended with toothpicks in a glass of water can one kitchen window sill handle?)
On reflection, I confess I probably associated growing sprouts with (please forgive me) health food nuts, the mothers we called granola people.
Like the mother at the swimming pool one day who refused my offer of some lemonade for her child when, upon questioning me, she learned that it was Tang, and then lectured me on how easy it was to make lemonade from lemons squeezed from your own loving hands — the inference being, if you were any kind of a mother at all, which I obviously wasn’t.
It was probably one of those days when I thought I was doing well to pack a picnic in the first place, but hey, I wasn’t mortified or scarred or anything.
Thankfully, I’m way past the years of thinking unkind thoughts about the mothers who put granola and sprouts instead of cookies and store-bought peanut butter in their children’s lunches.
I kept a close eye on nutrition and my kids had homemade bread, even if it was white, and fruit and vegetables, even if I didn’t grow them myself. There, I’m glad I got that off my chest.
In fact, I am now impressed with sprout growers, and gardeners in general who enjoy the fruits of their labours in one way or another all winter long.
Even though I’m personally into growing flowers, I love gardens full of edibles and I love hearing from gardeners like Marguerite, who writes, “My gardening passion is growing vegetables, fruit and herbs, but we also enjoy relaxing by our fish pond where a frog hung out last summer.
“Over the Christmas holidays, I picked thyme from a pot on my deck and used it as a decoration for a Christmas tree cheese board. I dried a lot of my herbs such as parsley, chives and savoury and use them over the winter to add more flavour to our dishes.
“At this time of the year I want to see something growing, so I pull out my sprout grower and start planting sprouts like mung beans, broccoli and alfalfa which should be ready for eating in 2-7 days. Also I have a spring salad, sandwich booster, radish and red clover which are my next week choices.”
I had no idea there were so many choices. When you think about it, nothing could be easier to grow indoors than sprouts; you don’t need any soil or much space or light. You don’t even need a proper sprout growing container; you can use a mason jar or a bowl or even a margarine container, and the gratification is so quick.
The Internet is full of simple instructions. “They” say mung beans and lentils are the easiest for beginners.
Daughter No. 2 grows sprouts, so I like to think I wasn’t too bad an influence.