Growing our own food

I mentioned before that I don't garden.  I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't grow food for my family. So what do I do? I sprout!

I've actually been into sprouting off and on for many years. Now, I'm making a concerted effort to make it a regular part of my week. Since I've been doing it for so many years, I have streamlined my process, which I will share with you.

First, I would like to mention that I am deeply indebted to The Sprout People who have had an amazingly informative website for well over 10 years now. They are my go-to place for sprouting info, techniques, and supplies. If you are at all interested in sprouting, please go check them out!

Here's a pic of the seeds I use for sprouting.

From left to right: almonds, mung beans, lima beans, wheat berries, beige garbanzo beans, French Garden leafy greens mix from Sprout People, and green lentils.

I buy all of these (except for the French Garden mix) in bulk from Sprouts, the whole foods store in my town (similar to a Whole Foods, I think), then store them in my own containers. Occasionally, the store will not have them in bulk and will only have them in their own plastic containers - that's the deal with the mung and lentil beans in the pic above.

I have 3 methods for sprouting. For the mung beans, the wheat berries (or sometimes barley), and the lentils (see footnote 1), I use the Bio-Set Sprouter:

If you clicked through on that link, you know that the Sprout People do not like the Bio-Set Sprouter, but that's because they don't like the method endorsed by the Bio-Set's instructions. I do not follow those instructions (I know my friends are shocked to hear that!) and so the Bio-Set works great for me!

The Bio-Set works by siphon action. Those little white thingies go inside the clear trays onto little spouts. When the stack is loaded up with seeds, you're supposed to pour water into the top tray, which then gets siphoned down to the next tray, and so on, and so on, until it drains into the bottom tray. You can then empty that tray into the sink, or use the water to water your plants, or whatever. You can go to the Sprout People's site for an explanation of why they don't like that.

When I use the Bio-Set, I load up the clear trays with about 1/4 cup of seeds, then put them into the sink, spray them with water to fill the trays, and let them drain directly into the sink:

Because I put all the little white plugs over the drain the trays are not exactly level, and this drains more water out of them than if I just put them into a normal stack like the instructions say to do.

After they have drained, I stack them up & put the bottom tray under them to catch any leftover drips. I put the stack on my window sill in such a way that it is not level and I line up all the drain holes so that if there is any more water that didn't drain in the sink, it will drain now.

I repeat the rinse & drain action twice a day, but I like my bean sprouts small. Mung beans and lentils take only a day to get to the size I want. If I start them in the evening, they are ready by the next evening. If I start them in the morning, they are ready by the next morning. The wheat berries and barley generally take at least another day, as do some other types of beans such as adzuki and pinto. When they are finished, I rinse them one more time and lay them out on towels to dry a bit (see footnote 2) before putting them in the fridge.

For garbanzo beans, lima beans, and almonds, I don't make actual "sprouts." Instead I make what are called "soaks." I put about 1/4 cup of seeds into a small jar (or a bigger jar if I want to make more - I usually do about 3/4 cup of garbanzo beans because they're so tasty and useful!), fill it with water, put a lid on it, and set it on the windowsill.

I let them soak overnight, or sometimes a day and half. There is usually no root sticking out, but sometimes you'll see a little white root tip poking out, especially on almonds. Then I drain them and lay them out on some towels to dry a bit (see footnote 2) before putting them in the fridge. If you use this method for big flat beans like limas, you will need to take off the seed coat after soaking the beans, otherwise they will hold onto the water and make a big mess. Yuck. (I used to do that to my lentils and mungs, too, but now that I only grow them small instead of the big long ones like you find at Asian restaurants, I don't.)

For my French Garden mix, I use yet another device, called the Easy Sprouter:

It's very easy to use and makes excellent leafy greans! Using the small seed insert (which keeps the small seeds from going through the drain holes), I put about 1/4 cup of seed mix in it, then put the drainage cup into the outer solid cup, fill it with water, and let it sit overnight, then rinse and actively drain in the morning. I rinse and actively drain twice a day for approximately four days, as that's about when the sprouts are the size I like. You could go longer, or shorter, depending on your personal preference. When they are finished, I let them dry a bit before putting them into the fridge.

What do I mean by "actively drain"? It means that I whirl the thing around in my sink to get out more water than would come out if I just let it drain by itself.  This is especially important when the greens start to grow and get all tangled up. To see active draining in action, check out the video at the bottom of the Sprout People page for the Easy Sprouter.

The leafy greens definitely take more work than any of the others, but I think it's worth it. They add so much flavor to salads and sandwiches - much more than plain lettuce, or even plain alfalfa sprouts from the store!

Here are the sprouts I did this past week:

Upper left to lower right: almonds, lentils, mung beans, wheat berries, pearl barley, garbanzo beans, French Garden leafy greens.

I use the almonds, lentils, mungs, and garbanzos by adding them to my regular vegetable stir frys. I also eat the almonds and garbanzos plain just out of the tub, or add them to salads along with the leafy greens.

I plan to use the wheat berries and barley to make some bread tomorrow morning. I'll just add them into the dough before letting it rise. Yummy!

Sprouting is an excellent way to add protein as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals to your family's diet. It is also an excellent way to save money while doing so. Dry beans cost so little in bulk compared to their food value. Sprouting beans before using them to cook increases their nutritional content, too!  Don't take my word for it! There is a lot of information out there about the benefits of sprouting.

I hope you will try sprouting, too. It's not really very hard and doesn't take much time out of your day. And the rewards are super yummy! :-)

(FOOTNOTE 1: do NOT sprout red lentils - they have had their outer coat removed, which is why they cook so fast. They will just turn into a slimy mess if you try to sprout them!)

(FOOTNOTE 2: I've even experimented with putting the finished sprouts in my dryer on a stationary rack on the no heat setting. It worked, but not really any faster than laying them out on the counter. That was probably due to how many I had; they were kind of squished up together onto the rack, whereas on the counter, they've got plenty of room to spread out. If you're in a hurry and/or have limited counter space on which to dry, you might try using the dryer. It doesn't hurt the sprouts as long as you use no heat.)

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