Fresh sprouts are full of vitamins and minerals that aren’t readily available in the unsprouted seed. Sprouting allows you to have fresh greens even in winter and will expand the bulk of your food storage many times over without any extra expense to you.
To start sprouting, you’ll need at least one wide-mouth quart canning jar (a quart mayonnaise jar will also work) and a 6×6 inch square piece of nylon window screen or cheesecloth. Both the screen and cheesecloth are easy to cut with scissors or a sharp knife.
Next, put approximately 3 to 4 ounces of wheat, alfalfa, chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, pumpkin seeds, rye, sunflower seeds, or other sprouting seed in each jar and cover the mouth with the nylon window screen. You can use a large rubber band, string, or a canning jar ring to hold the screen in place over the mouth of the jar.
Fill each jar with water to within 2 inches of the top and let stand overnight. When you get up the next morning, pour out the soak water and tilt the bottom of the jar over the sink and leave for an hour or two so the rest of the water can drain off the seeds.
After this initial soaking and draining, you’ll want to flood the jars about every four hours and then drain any excess water by tilting the jar bottom up into a bowl or sink. Repeat two to three times per day.
At this point, you want to keep the seeds moist but not covered with water. In a few days, the seeds will begin to sprout. When the sprouts reach 1 to 2 inches in length (for most seeds), they are ready to eat. Sprouts can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried. If dried, they can be ground into flour and used for bread or other baked items.
to keep a steady supply of fresh sprouts, simply start a new jar 24 to 48 hours after the last sprout jar has finished sprouting. Repeat cycle. This is a great routine that will keep you in fresh greens year round.
And that is all there is to it. If you want to learn more about sprouting, including in-depth but simple recipes using sprouts, order a copy of The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore. This excellent resource is a must-have for any serious survival seed sprouter.
Excellent article. Year-round sounds good. Rinsing keeps mold away or at bay. Being able to grab a few sprouts while in the kitchen is nice.
Whether it is a meat loaf or salad, flavor and health combined is sweet. 👍
Awesome! Thank you.
Seed sprouts are a great micronutrient. Broccoli, radishes, grasses, all beans and peas. Thanks for sharing your information and hope you are doing well in these cold days. Wishing you a safe and joyous Christmas, hope you can spend some time with your mom, maybe bake her some of your biscuits 🙂 Take care and hopefully see you on your next video. ML&BLSNGS