Sprouting seeds for a nice crunch!

Now that the credit crunch is here in earnest there is no better time to learn how to sprout seeds!

This is like gardening for crops but without the backache and without the hours of toil.

It is also extraordinarily easy to do and the results are tasty and highly nutritious.

Here's what you do.

Find a large jar and buy some suitable seeds. If you are a vegetable gardener you can use the fruit of your labours, of course. There are lots of different seeds that can be used but here are some of the best and easiest to begin with.

Alfalfa is easy and widely available. You can buy them from online seed catalogues or you may find them available in your local garden centre. Broccoli seeds are good. fenugreek, too are easy to use and if you want something like the bean sprouts available in oriental food shops and supermarkets the mung beans are a good choice.

Put a small handful of seeds into the jar and add some filtered water. You can use ordinary tap water but filtered water is better because it has fewer impurities. Swill the water around gently and leave the seeds to soak for a few hours or overnight.

Next you need to start rinsing the seeds regularly in fresh filtered water. This is not hard and you only need to do it a couple of times a day so it is not time consuming.

Drain off the water which you used to soak the seeds. Use either a fine mesh sieve or find some muslin and tie it over the mouth of the jar. Now add fresh water and swill it around gently. If you use a tap, be careful not to blast the seeds with a powerful jet of water; the young shoots are really quite delicate. Immediately drain the water off the seeds and leave the jar on its side in a cool shaded or dark place. The seeds should begin to sprout.

You need to repeat this rinsing with fresh water twice a day, morning and evening, until the sprouts are large enough to eat. Most seeds take from 4 days to about a week to be ready.

Before eating them, give them a good final rinse in fresh water. If you want some green tips leave the jar in the light for a couple of days. Do not leave them in strong sunlight because you may find that the seeds spoil. The conditions inside the jar will become like a small overheated greenhouse and your little green world will suffer its own global warming!

Seeds are best sprouted either in almost complete darkness - under the sink, for example, or in shady conditions such as in a dark part of the kitchen. Put them somewhere where you won't forget them.

If you do forget them, then just rinse them extra well and survey the damage. If you only forget them once or twice they will likely be quite alright. If they are not rinsed enough then you may find they become unpleasant and even smelly!

You can keep the finished sprouts in the fridge for several days ready for use in salads, sandwiches and stir fries.

If you enjoy sprouting seeds it may be worth buying a seed sprouting jar which helps you to get even better results and even sprout several different varieties at once.

Greenfootsteps article on sprouting seeds