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Seeds are pure magic. Tiny capsules grow into giant plants seemingly from thin air. It’s nature’s version of a never-ending rainbow handkerchief out of the magician’s pocket. All the nutrients needed for the first few weeks are packed in there tighter than vitamin sardines and if you can jump start the growth process with a bit of water and care, you can harvest those nutrients along with some pretty amazing flavours for yourself. Sprouts are so much more than alfalfa and mung beans these days.
When I hear about lettuce and greens shortages in the off season I wonder why more people don’t take advantage of this easy ‘grow your own’ answer. In literally the space of a glass jar, you can grow an almost never-ending crop of interesting flavours for your salads and sandwiches, bypassing pedestrian iceberg lettuce in the process. Flavours you probably couldn’t buy even if you wanted since local markets rarely stock much beyond clover sprouts. Even in the dead of winter with little more than a sink, some mesh cloth, and a bit of timing you can harvest in just a few days. Spicy mustard, nutty fenugreek, and peppery red radish are all far more interesting than the plain hippie sprouts of the 60’s and require zero skill as a gardener. If you can operate the taps on your sink, even if you usually kill plastic house plants with your black thumbs, you can succeed with sprouts.
Fine dining has embraced the micro-greens trend realizing that seeds can turn into premium ingredients in a week or two using any spare corner of the kitchen that’s available. Sprouting is the first stage of growing those edibles and it’s your choice whether you harvest early as sprouts or find a sunny window to take them farther to tender young greens. For myself I keep a rotation of several going most any week so I’ve always got something interesting for the salad bowl on hand. The cats also get a round of wheat grass (aka ‘cat grass’) if they’re good.
The basic method is to soak a small amount of sproutable seeds initially for several hours, drain and park them in a dark place, then rinse every half day until they’ve sprouted. At that point you can eat them as is or transfer them to some sort of growing media (soil, sponges, etc.) to grow on to tiny little greens. The timing of the soak and rinse cycles will vary with each type of seed but the internet is loaded with good info as are several newer books on the topic. Pay attention to the yield ratios too since only a few spoonfuls of seeds will often fill an entire jar by they time they’ve exploded into sprouts.
You’ll read about all sorts of fancy sprouting devices and gear if you fall down the sprouting rabbit hole online. While there are some tricky sorts of seeds that might benefit from those gizmos, I’ve only ever used the simple glass jar approach with great success on dozens of varieties. A rubber band and some mesh cloth perfectly facilitates the rinse and drain process but over time that cloth can get torn or ripped with use. I used my hacker skills to cut the ever-lasting ring and inserts you see above from a plastic lid and mesh grid found in the crochet and knitting department of most any Megamart or hobby store. Don’t be tempted to use the metal canning ring that likely came with the jar since it will rust almost instantly. The seeds vary significantly in size from almost microscopic to the diameter of a pea so choose mesh as appropriate. I have three or four sizes that cover most of those bases with my total investment for jars, lids, and inserts coming in under ten bucks. I’ll wager you could try your first crop with odds and ends already laying around your house (jar, kitchen strainer, etc.) before spending a dime on kit. No need for anything more fancy because the seeds won’t care.
I keep my jars in a dish rack next to the sink for ease of draining and use a heavy towel to create ‘dark’ as needed in the cycle. Towards the end of your sprouting week you’ll want them to get some light to green up a bit but unless you’re continuing on to micro-greens in a sunny window, ambient room light seems to be enough.
The only other choice is where you get your seed but specialty suppliers are everywhere these days. You want seed specifically chosen for sprouting so that it hasn’t been treated in any way that will inhibit germination. For my fellow Canadians I can highly recommend the good folks at Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds in Saskatchewan where I get all my own seeds. Another great resource for those south of the border is the Sprout People down in the States. Both operations generously share all the info you’d need on most any sprouting seed out there with specific times and growing tricks unique to each variety. They even have nutritional info so you can see how much of a healthy boost you’re getting in the bargain. Most anywhere on the planet will have a specialty dealer nearby or within reasonable mail order distance and luckily, seeds are cheap luxuries. Broccoli, sunflower, amaranth, cress, rocket… they’ll all sprout an interesting flavour and continue on to delicious micro-greens if you don’t eat the lot first.
One of my favourite sandwiches is the Vietnamese bahn-mi that’s typically topped with a quick pickle of carrot, cucumber, and daikon radish. In the off season when I can’t get full grown versions of the latter, I use sprouted daikon radish seeds and honestly, I think it might be better than the traditional. Time for you to get some seeds and start your own garden in a jar.
