Before giving the direct instructions on how to sprout, I would like to dedicate a couple of words to what sprouting is, and why is it so important.
Sprouting is taking a seed into the first phase of in the plants life-cycle. It is done by soaking, rinsing and letting it sit, and could be done in different intervals of times for different seeds. The greatest benefit of sprouting is the nutritional values it adds to the seed, values that cannot be achieved in any other way. Lab samples have shown that the vitamins content of the seed can multiply by hundreds, thus making it one of the most potent foods we can eat. Another benefit is the abundance of energy it contains. A sprouted seed can give us such a boost of energy, that it is sometimes unbelievable. The calorie rate is low, yet the processes it starts with the nutritional values it holds, pushes our performance to the maximum.
Another great reason to sprout is the fun in it. It is very satisfying to eat your own produce. Most of the population nowadays is urban, and thus our connection to nature is practically none. If we get a weekend in the great outdoors here and there, it is a blessing, but it is not that common and not that often that most of us do so. Eating, on the other hand, is a daily activity that most of us enjoy more then once a day. Bringing nature into your home, and from your care to your plate, is a great way to connect to your roots. It can also be a bonding and an educational experience for you and your family.
There are many more aspects to the world of sprouting, but the sheet is too short for describing them all. We will now introduce the Do-it-yourself sprouting guide. Please - try this at home.
How to sprout at home:
Take a glass full of live unbroken organic seeds. You can use fenugreek, chickpeas, adzuki beans, mung beans, rye, alfalfa and others. Rinse the seeds, and then soak them in a container with enough fresh water to cover them up one times the amount of seed. (If you have X seed, put 2X water).
After a few hours (5 in average), rinse it again, and change the water. There are different soaking and sprouting times for different seeds. Adzuki beans usually soak between four and six hours, while chickpeas can be soaked for ten and even twenty four hours. Rye is soaked between eight and ten hours, and the same goes for mung beans.
After soaking the seeds, wash and rinse them again, then leave them in the strainer. Put the strainer in a shaded place and inside a container. Cover the top of the strainer with a towel, and every six to eight hours rinse it again. The sprouting time varies according to your flavor, and as long as it does not smell bad it is usually fine. The tail that comes out of the seed is a sign that sprouting is happening, and the seed is becoming a plant. In this point many bio-chemical changes occur, and the flavor begins to change. The flavors changes according to the length of the tail, and it usually gets bitter while it gets longer.
Once the tail is showing, the sprouting is done, and it is up to you to decide how longer you are going to let it grow. It is usually not recommended to let it grow to much, as there is a chance it will go bad. The sprouts are in a very sensitive phase of their lives, and if the conditions are not perfect, they might start dying. Usually, with most sprouts (excluding alfalfa) it is common to eat the sprouts when the tail is as long as the seed, or up to double the size of the seed. Again, many times it is just a matter of flavor.
Sprouting - a world unfolds:
There are many more seeds you could sprout, and many more ways to do it. If you are new to sprouting, the information above should be enough to get you started. There are over a dozen different to sprout, some more interesting then others, but overloading you with information might only push you away from this wonderful activity.
I invite you to start exploring the beautiful world of sprouting at home, and enjoying the health benefits sprouts give our body. While adding sprouts to our list of vegetables, nutrition will be at its best and you will feel the difference in your energy levels right away.
