Ever thought about growing your own sprouts, but don’t know where to start? If so, keep reading and I will show you a fast, easy and foolproof way to begin sprouting right in your own kitchen no matter what time of year it is or how cold it is outside.
Indoor gardening is an exciting, fun and easy hobby that almost anyone can have success with, not to mention the amazing health benefits of having freshly harvested superfoods right at your fingertips daily. In this post I will talk about sprouting green leafy cruciferous vegetable seeds such as broccoli, kale, cabbage and arugula.
First of all I have been sprouting for years. Long before it was trendy I used to have to search high and low for quality seeds. Now the internet is flooded with suppliers. I started with simple alfalfa and clover seeds. I was afraid to branch out into growing other vegetables, but life gets boring growing and eating the same things over and over, so eventually I began growing other types of vegetables.
Soon, I was enjoying different flavors, textures, so I then started mixing different seeds together in the same batch. That is when things started getting really interesting. That is yet another benefit of sprouting. Discovery! Now I grow and experiment with combinations of green sprouts, beans, lentils, peas and grains, even microgreens. The possibilities are endless and everyday brings new ideas, flavors and recipe ideas.
What are sprouts?
Sprouts are nutritious living foods in the earliest stage of development. Shortly after germination when a root tail appears sprouts emerge as powerful baby plants in their full nutritional prime. This stage lasted approximately 2-4 days after germination. At this point they are concentrated power houses packed full of in protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, essential fatty acids, amino acids, and, enzymes, RNA, DNA, and bio-flavinoids. They are at their highest level of potency as compared with full-sized vegetables.
What makes sprouts so nutritious?
A healthy body is tied to good nutrition. Unfortunately it is estimated that only 10-20% of people get the proper amount of vitamins each day. Getting the recommended amount of vitamins in addition to other necessary nutrients is important in maintaining good health, preventing disease and treating many conditions. Since sprouts can supply upwards of 100% more essential nutrients than mature plants, they are a smart choice for maintaining a healthy body. In addition, they are fun and easy to grow indoors, thereby providing year round availability to powerhouse living greens.
What are the health benefits of eating sprouts?
Sprouts are higher in essential enzymes over raw vegetables. Mature vegetables have enzymes low in concentration compared to sprouted seeds. Sprouts can have up to 100 times more, but can depend on variety of seed. Enzymes help speed up the many chemical reactions within cells and therefore are necessary for maintaining a healthy body.
When seeds are sprouted proteins are improved and the overall nutritional value of the sprout increases during the soaking stage.
Fiber found in sprouts helps the immune system by transporting fats and toxins out of our body before they can reabsorb through the intestine walls.
Vitamin absorption, especially A, B-complex, C and E, increases up to 20 times during the first few days of growth. Depending on the type of sprout this number can be dramatically higher.
Fatty acids essential to human health are often difficult to include in our diets. Certain sprout seeds offer an excellent source for getting these important nutrients in our system.
The energy in the sprouted seed ignites during the soaking and sprouting process. During this early stage the tiny seed will produce all the vitamins and minerals necessary for its development to adulthood. Therefore eating sprouts at at this tender age allows one the benefit of getting all the same nutrients as eating the adult plant, but one only has to consume a small handful of sprouts.
Spouts are alkalizing to the human body. Many studies have linked serious illnesses to increased acid in the body. Eating a diet rich in sprouts supplies the necessary nutrients to balance the body chemistry.
Lastly, there is much research available that points to eating a diet rich in sprouts may help reduce certain risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and cancer among others. Additional studies suggest that sprouts can help reduce high blood cholesterol levels, poor blood flow and improve circulation.
How easily is it to add sprouts to my daily diet?
It’s easy to incorporate sprouts into your daily diet and once you do your be supercharging your body with healthy goodness. Since they are so nutrient dense adding sprouts to your meals with greatly help to increase nutritional value. Leafy sprouts can be eaten cooked or raw. Spouts are a delicious, flavorful and highly nutritious superfood that can easily be added to salad, smoothies, sandwiches, wraps, flatbread, avocado toast, and just about anything you can think of. Delicious ways to add sprouts to your everyday dishes can be found throughout my site.
How do you grow sprouts indoors?
There are numerous container styles as well as methods for growing sprouts indoors. I often use a mason jar because it is simple to use, inexpensive and does not take up a lot of room in my kitchen which is not too large. This is a great way to get started.
No matter which growing container you choose, growing your own sprouts is very easy and fun and fascinating to watch humble seeds develop into tiny living vegetables. All you need is a sprouting container, a mesh lid, small bowl and sprouting seeds. The technique varies a little depending on the container you are using but the basic steps are pretty much the same. In this post I will concentrate on the mason jar method. In future posts I will introduce some other methods.
Mason jar method
Materials: wide mouth mason jar, mesh lid, small round plate/bowl, seeds
- Soak: Start by soaking 2 tablespoons of sprouting seeds for about 8 to 12 hours in a mason jar or similar container size (typically I do this early in the morning, so by evening they are ready to move onto the rinse stage).
2. Rinse: For the next two days keep your jar in a dim area away from sunlight. Give the seeds a generous rinse two times a day (morning and late afternoon). Rinse your seeds for about 5-10 seconds each time with cool water running directly into the jar. Shake any excess water off seeds until dry as possible (drain well). Place jar on a small plate/bowl at an angle so that any excess water will drain off and allow for air circulation. Remember this is a living organism, so it needs air to thrive.
3. Sunlight: On day 3 move your jar to a well lighted area, but not in direct sunlight. Continue rinsing twice a day. By evening your spouts should have turned green; thanks to Mother Nature’s love!
4. Harvest: The day you have been waiting for. After about 3-5 days your sprouts will be ready to eat.
5. De-hulling (removing the seed coats): This is optional step depending on your preference. I always de-hull as I feel the hard seed coats detract from the clean taste of freshly harvested sprouts. I use an OXO brand Salad Spinner, but you can also use a medium size kitchen bowl to accomplish almost the same result. First wash your hands well. Next, empty your sprouts into the salad spinner unit and fill almost to the top with cool water. Using your hands, separate the sprout clumps by swirling them around in the water. You will see the hulls separating from the sprouts. Raise the white inner bowl from the unit and discard water. You should see a sea of tiny brown hulls floating in the water. Repeat this process about 3 times. Once the water is mostly clear of hulls it is time to spin the sprouts. Do this several times until sprouts feel dry to the touch. If necessary place sprouts on a paper towel for an hour or so. You want to make sure your sprouts are very dry before storing them. The dryer they are, the longer time you will have to enjoy your little gems. If you are like me however, they will not last for long.
Storage: Store sprouts in refrigerator in a sealed container. Remember, dry completely before storing. Sprouts should last for about a weeks.
How to grow sprouts indoors
Equipment
- wide mouth quart size mason jar
- mesh lid to cover mason jar
- medium kitchen bowl for aeration
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sprouting seeds of choice
Instructions
- Soak: Start by soaking 2 tablespoons of sprouting seeds for about 8 to 12 hours in a mason jar (Typically I do this early in the morning, so by evening they are ready to move onto the rinse stage).
- Rinse: For the next two days keep your mason jar in a dark area away from sunlight. Give the seeds a generous rinse two times a day (morning and late afternoon). Rinse your seeds for about 5 seconds each time with cool water running directly into the jar. Shake any excess water off seeds until dry as possible (drain well). Place jar on a small plate/bowl at an angle so that any excess water will drain off.
- Sunlight: On day 3 move your mason jar to a well lighted area, but not in direct sunlight. Continue rinsing twice a day. By evening your spouts should have turned green; thanks to Mother Nature!
- Harvest: The day you have been waiting for. After about 3-5 days your sprouts will be ready to eat.
- De-hulling(removing the seed coats): This is the last step before enjoying your sprouts.This is optional depending on your preference. I always de-hull as I feel the hard seed coats detract from the clean taste of freshly harvested sprouts. I use an OXO brand Salad Spinner, but you can also use a medium size kitchen bowl to accomplish almost the same result. First wash your hands. Next,empty your sprouts into the salad spinner unit and fill almost to the top with cool water. Using your hands, separate the sprout clumps by swirling them around in the water. You will see the hulls separating from the sprouts. Raise the white inner bowl from the unit and discard water. You should see a sea of tiny brown hulls floating in the water. Repeat this process about 3 times. Once the water is mostly clear of hulls it is time to spin the sprouts. Do this several times until sprouts feel dry to the touch. If necessary place sprouts on a paper towel for an hour or so. You want to make sure your sprouts are very dry before storing them. The dryer they are, the longer time you will have to enjoy the little gems. If you are like me however, they will not last for long.
- Storage: After de-hulling if you choose, store in refrigerator in a sealed container. Remember, dry completely before storing. Sprouts should last for about a weeks or so.
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Julie
Thank you. I am so glad you found it helpful. Not sure about part 2, but I have other tutorials on sprouting beans and lentils on my site.
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Greetings! Very useful advice within this article! It is the little changes which will make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing! Henrietta Tynan Dang
Julie
Thank you so much for the lovely word Henrietta. I am happy to help!