Sprouting for Beginners

This time of year, so many of us are looking for ways to get healthier. One easy way to freshen up your diet is to add sprouts to the mix.

Why Sprout?
The main benefit of sprouting is that it takes a seed or nut in a dormant state and brings it to life. During the sprouting process new and higher quality proteins and other nutrients are produced. Tests have shown that the nutrients in seeds and nuts are anywhere from 50% to 400% greater after sprouting or soaking.

In addition to the higher nutritional value, sprouts are highly digestible. Because sprouts are living, growing food sources, they have a rich supply of enzymes. This quality makes sprouts easily assimilated and metabolized by the body. Sprouts are packed full of nutrition in a form that your body can easily utilize.

Sprouts continue to grow slowly even after refrigeration and their vitamin content will actually increase. Compare this with store-bought vegetables and fruits, which start losing their vitamin content as soon as they’re picked and often have to be shipped a thousand miles or more in the winter.

Sprouting is so easy and fun…don’t let it intimidate you. The rewards are well worth the effort.

How to sprout

You'll need a couple of things:
A wide mouthed jar, (e.g. a mason jar used for canning), some cheesecloth and a rubber band. Oh, and some sprouting seeds, of course. Find some popular sprouting seeds here.

Instructions:

1. Measure an appropriate amount of seed, visually inspect and remove foreign matter and broken seeds.
2. Place seeds in jar
3. Add water to jar for soaking
4. Cover mouth of jar with cheesecloth
5. Soak for recommended time (see below)
6. Turn jar upside down drain at a 45 degree angle
7. Let the seeds sprout for appropriate time (see below)
8. Rinse seeds in jar as needed (2-4 times/day), returning jar to its upside down 45 degree angle position
   
9. When sprouts are ready, rinse and store in refrigerator, in jar or in another suitable container, until ready to use. If not used within 12 hours, seeds should be rinsed every 24 hours in refrigerator.

Sprouting times:

• Radish: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0+ days.
• Sunflower: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 18 hours.
• Barley: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.25-1.5 days. Use only unhulled barley; "whole" hulled barley and pearled barley won't sprout.
• Quinoa: Soak 2-4 hours, sprout 12 hours. Very fast sprouter. Rinse seeds multiple times to get off soapy tasting saponin in seed coat.
• Wheat, including Kamut and Spelt: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1-1.5 days. Hard Winter wheat is better than soft Spring wheat.
• Alfalfa, Clover: For greens: soak 4-6 hours, sprout 6-8 days.
• Garbanzo: Soak 12-18 hours, sprout 1.5+ days.
• Lentils, brown/green and red: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0 day.
• Mung beans: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 18 hrs - 1 day.
• Adzuki beans: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0 day.