Monday, January 26, 2009

a jar of spring... in january


Come January, I'm aching for fresh vegetables from my garden. The only green thing growing around here is ME... with envy for my blogging friends around the world who are experiencing summer right now. I came up with a solution last week. Sprouts! We've grown them in previous winters, but somehow it had slipped my mind until I saw this handy device at my co-op (health food store). It's a stainless steel mesh disc that fits into the ring of a mason jar. Ingenious in it's simplicity. In the past I've used cheesecloth or an old (clean, of course) stocking with a rubber band. This is messy. I love my disc and found an on-line supplier for you. Click here. I liked the sound of their name: Sprout People. I also loved their vast experience... in ten years they grew over 200 tons of sprouts! They have a great selection of organic seeds and wonderful tips for growing. I'm planning on trying sunflower seeds next. Here's what I did with broccoli sprouts:

Add a few teaspoons of seeds to the jar. Give them a soak over night in one cup of water.


I had to share this picture of the dark and cold winter day we started our sprouts. Those are our icicles outside our sun room window. Now, you can see why I needed a little bit of spring!


The following morning, drain seeds and rinse them. Set them upturned in a dish drain or bowl until the next morning, when you repeat the process. In two days you will see little sweet tails growing!

We had so much fun watching our sprouts grow big, and everyone wanted a turn rinsing them with our easy drain disc. On the final day (day six), our jar was full, our sprouts were almost ready. We put them in a window to catch a little sun and then harvested them for a huge salad. They've been our topper to everything these past few days. Just what we needed!
So much fun... oh yeah, they're good for you, too!

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37 comments:

  1. Ooooh, thanks for the reminder. I bought a sprouting contraption last summer but haven't been brave enough to use it. Maybe I'll get it down and try it.

    I like that first photo of the jar in the snow.

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  2. wow great idea to start with this springy lovelyness

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  3. Lovely!

    Have you ever made adai...Indian pancakes made from a "batter" of blended mung bean sprouts?

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  4. a good idea.. especially to entertain kids in winter.. the only thing is I have always disliked sprouts. still the boy might like to have a go.. so thank you!

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  5. Oh Maya, we are so alike ... we eat sprouted seeds here, but have planned to make them grow at home once we'll have moved. That's at the top of our list. Our favorite ones are sunflowers, leek, radishes, lentils, chickpeas & others. I hope to make lots of different ones grow, specially the ones we never tried because they're not sold "already grown" in health stores in France. (such as garlic, mustard ...)
    So happy to see everyone had such fun making them grow ! Your icicles are no doubt a sign you're so in the middle of winter where you live ! Enjoy the snow, the seeds & the icicles !!! LOL Big hugs xoxoxo
    PS : the fun part (for me) is that we planned to buy similar jars for growing our seeds ! :D

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  6. I love that image of the sprouts in the snow. You might just will Spring along with this loveliness.

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  7. You are so right about needing a bit of spring. I'll have to dig out the sprouting seeds and get some started, now.

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  8. How weird...I've never tried growing my own sprouts! I can't believe I haven't tried it yet...especially considering all the OTHER seed starting I do.

    I hear ya...we totally need/want Spring to come pay us a visit. It's been freaky cold this year!

    (I wonder if I could make that jar...I bet I have some mesh somewhere...thanks for the link!)

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  9. You just reminded me I need to start my sunny green grass seed in some pots . I think we both did this last spring almost at the same time even though at that time we didn't eve "know" each other. Now where oh where did I put that bag of seed .

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  10. Brrr, it's two degrees out this morning! Your sprouts look fun and yummy. Thanks for the online source so we don't have to bundle up little people to gather the supplies.

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  11. Thanks so much for sharing the link and sprout process. I love sprouts and would like to give this a try.

    A little Spring in a jar this time of the year is always a good thing!

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  12. i'm envious of the summer people too, i did see my first snowdrops the other day though
    lisa x

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  13. My mom loves sprouts. I should make her a jar for a gift. She would LOVE it!

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  14. This is so timely! Just this weekend I placed my garden seed order and saw the sprout pages, and didn't buy anything sprout-related, but vowed to look into it. Thank you, thank you. I think I'll start with chickpeas!

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  15. What a wonderful post. There's something magical about natural, nourishing, nutritious bean sprouts!

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  16. I love this! Now, let's see if I have an empty jar somewhere around here ...

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  17. You are just amazing Maya! Everytime I see one of your posts I think....wow, those little ones are so lucky to have such a fantastic mom. Just magic and nurturing in every step. I adore the way you live and am so happy you share it all with us. (and thank you for your incredibly sweet comment, it made my day my friend)
    xoxo
    Melis

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  18. My husband and I make "Living Smoothies" by blending the sprouts (we're using a mixed bean batch right now for yummy nuttiness) with a banana, frozen blueberries and other things for a delicious fresh-tasting smoothie for breakfast. Lots of enzymes and proteins!

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  19. Oh this is FANTASTIC! I've been meaning to grow sprouts forever. I'm so glad I didn't buy one of those mesh bags at the co-op now-this is way easier! I can't wait to try this. I'll be linking as well. Thanks tons!

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  20. I like the idea of that. It looks very satifying to watch them grow.

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  21. Neat! I've seen this at one of the local natural markets but wasn't sure how it worked, how well it worked, or if it was worth the trouble. I love sprouts and after seeing this blog entry, I just may have to go get one for myself.

    Thanks for such a neat idea!

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  22. So excited to try this! I am in CNY so I am dealing with the YUCKY SMELLY snow too! Ordering it NOW! Thanks for the idea! ~Kara

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  23. Where do you get your seeds?

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  24. I had no idea so many would get excited about sprouting... well, it really is quite fun! Brietta, I get my sees from my local co-op, but the link to Sprout People in the post will take you right to a wonderful selection of anything and everything you could possibly need for sprouting. Happy growing, everyone!

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  25. Oh. my GOSH!!! That is so stinkin' cool! Yeah... we totally need one of those sprouting disks. I mean, we don't have any snow and it kinda IS spring here, but still, STILL!
    Thanks for the idea!

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  26. Maya, you certainly have a way of creating sun and magic, even when it's snowing out! I've never seen sprouts grow so beautifully, nor could I ever tire of seeing how greenery and nature thrives in your home!

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  27. Awesome! Thank you for the renewed inspiration. Our diet consists of 99% raw foods, but we have had trouble sprouting this winter. We attributed it to the lowish temp in our house (usually around 65-67). I think I will give it another try... Maybe with broccoli this time :)

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  28. WOW! Thank you for this tutorial! I LOVE sprouts and I'm aching for summer too- this will be such a great addition to my little indoor gardens. :)

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  29. Oh, I just blogged something so similar yesterday. . .not the sprouts , but the longing for spring. . check out this book which is hopefully going to lead to some successful projects like yours!! Great idea w/ the sprouts, and cool picture in the snow. www.ellierichellie.blogspot.com

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  30. I absolutely love sprouts. I like them in my sandwiches opposed to lettuce. I think I'm going to this with my children.

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  31. 42*c & no aircon.
    Just as well or it'd be crankin'.
    It aint all it's cracked up to be...;) XXxx

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  32. wow, I had no idea sprouts grew like this! thanks for the lovely pics and how-to.

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  33. This was really cool! Never would have thought of this

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  34. Saw these on flickr! Love the idea of growing our own sprouts - awesome!

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  35. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I've wanted to sprout, but wasn't sure how, and because I'm a visual learner, your photos have really helped.

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  36. Just wanted to say thanks for this link..we just got our broccoli sprouts in the mail and have begun to grow them! I linked to your post from my blog today...www.securityville.blogspot.com.

    Thanks again!

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