Saturday 28 February 2009

Of Sprouting Seeds and Beet Leaves....

I've been having so much tasty fun growing alfalfa and buckwheat sprouts that I decided to take the plunge and order some certified organic sprouting seeds from a Canadian company, Mumm's. Buying seeds in bulk like this is a lot cheaper - these seeds should last me for a year or more, making buckets of sprouts!

I'm going to try the broccoli sprouts first, since they apparently have 20-50 times the cancer fighting effects than broccoli itself, which is already a good anti-cancer food. These little guys are also effective in decreasing some kinds of ulcers, and that is also a very good thing.

I'm going to have to invest in some cheesecloth or some other kind of mesh, since one sprouting jar just isn't enough these days! Maybe I could use some old nylons and an elastic band or two.....?

In other news, one of the three beets I had planted in a margarine container of moist sand last Fall has finally started growing beet leaves. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to take this long, so I'll have to check into what I should be doing differently....

8 comments:

hmd said...

I've never done sprouts although it sounds like a lot of fun. One of these days.... :)

Theresa said...

It is quite neat, to be able to eat something that you grew in just 3-6 days :)

Unknown said...

I had pea sprouts once at a restaurant, and BOY were they good! Not something I would've ever considered eating (I mean, you eat the peas, not the plants, right?) but they were very yummy.

Not at all sure how that was accomplished but since you're in an experimental mood ... maybe you can try and let us know!

Theresa said...

Hmmm...I'll see what I can do!

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize the broccoli sprouts were actually better for you than the broccoli. I was surprised at how much the broccoli sprouts tasted like broccoli.

Theresa said...

I've just started a batch of broccoli sprouts yesterday - I'm looking forward to tasting them!

Jessica said...

I look forward to hearing how you're doing. I tried sprouting broccoli seeds twice and they went mouldy :(

Lentil sprouts worked ok, although they had black spots on some of them. I wondered if my home-made lid with holes in was bruising the seeds, or if they'd gone mouldy too.

Theresa said...

Hi Jessica;

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. My first batch of broccoli sprouts turned out quite well, although they took about 8 days to be ready. They were quite hot to the taste, sort of like radishes. Good in salad!