Instructions

Soak organic seeds for 8 hours or overnight in lots of water, some larger seeds may need longer. Add a liquid feed to the water for extra nutrition.

Rinse sprouts well at least every 12 hours. Trays need careful spraying in the beginning as it washes away mould causing fungi, but try not to move sprouts around as they root. Once they’re fixed immerse them in water for at least half a minute. Swishing them about, (and especially inverting them,) helps to remove seed hulls.

Drain your sprouts well, standing water is a good way to encourage rot. Leave trays on an angle for a minute or so, or briefly put them on some tissue to wick the water away (don’t leave them on it or they may dry out.)

Harvest sprouts carefully by gently pulling ripe ones out from the rest. This allows less developed ones to continue growing so you get several harvests of perfect sprouts.

Store them in a plastic bag in a cool dark place, such as a fridge, and rinse them every 3 days or so. Most sprouts will keep at least a week like this and often longer.

Sprouts can be divided into those grown as small green plants, (mainly eaten raw although some have to be juiced) and those grown briefly just to improve the nutritional qualities of the seed, (mainly grains and beans).

Greens

Best grown in open trays these are mostly eaten raw.

Alfalfa – means ‘father of all foods’ in Arabic, a lovely mild taste means you can’t grow enough. Sensitive to heat, ready in 7 days.

Buckwheat – actually a herb, likes light, warmth and wet. Needs to soak for 12 hours and a larger mesh or holes to root into than normal, use black unhulled seeds. The hulls are susceptible to mould so rinse well, ready in 10 days.

Cabbage – very small seeds make rooting difficult, use a very fine mesh. Strong cabbagey flavour, ready in 6 days.

Clover (red) – like alfalfa but sharper taste and bigger leaves, ready in 6 days.

Fenugreek – Tall and bitter, prefers cool temperatures. Mix with milder sprouts to tone it down, ready in 9 days.

Garlic – expensive, but just as good as the bulb for health and taste, but with less odorous after effects. Seed jackets don’t come off easily, just eat them! The first week will see little growth, ready in 12 days.

Mustard – as you’d expect this tiny sprout is hot. Use the black type as it’s easier to grow. Too hot for mass consumption, better for spicing up other meals, ready in 6 days.

Radish – hot, rinse well, ready in 6 days.

Sunflower (in shell) – sprout black ones as the shells fall off more easily and rinse well as they are prone to mould. As buckwheat, soak long and use a larger mesh, they get big! Ready in 10 days.

Wheatgrass – looks like grass and must be juiced. Soak hard wheat grains for 12 hours and use a large holed tray or basket. Harvest with scissors, has a strong flavour and many health giving properties, ready in 12 days.

Pulses, Grains, Nuts, and Beans

Best grown in bags, most of these sprouts are ready in 3 to 5 days. Sprouted beans and grains should be used as you would unsprouted, but with less cooking. Although sprouting increases nutrients and digestibility they are still essentially raw and eating large quantities regularly without cooking is not recommended. Smaller beans are easier to digest and can be eaten raw especially if you grow them long, light cooking is still advised for regular, mass consumption.

Adzuki – cousin of the mung bean, crispy, use in salads sparingly, ready in 5 days.

Barley – grows about 2 to 3 times the length of the grain, better cooked, ready in 2 to 5 days.

Chickpea – cook, makes good sprouted humus, ready in 4 days.

Lentil – very easy to grow, steam them or eat sparingly on salads, ready in 5 days.

Kamut – this ancient grain is more nutritious and used the same way as wheat if you can find it. Sprout till the shoots are half the size of the berry, 4 days.

Mung – the famous Chinese sprout, to get them long, grow under a heavy bag of water with a banana or two nearby, (it gives off ethylene gas, a plant growth hormone.) The seed hulls don’t move easily, let them float away by holding the sprouts underwater, ready in 5 days but you can grow longer.

Oats – use oat groats, you can eat sprouts raw, but better cooked, sweet. Ready in 3-5 days.

Pea (green) – like lentils, but bigger and needs cooking, ready in 5 days.

Sunflower (hulled) – sweet nutty taste, but gets bitter and moulds easily if you leave them too long, grow for 2 days, then eat.

Quinoa – Hard to find. Found a photo at least — Let me know if you try it out!

Wheat – sprout this and use it to make sprouted breads, ready in 3-5 days.

Did you miss Part 1 of the Sprouting series? Check it out here!

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