How to grow sprouts
Several days ago, it was -26 degrees F. (-32 C) outdoors at my house, but even arctic temperatures don鈥檛 hamper my kitchen-counter garden. Let鈥檚 be honest: Sprouting seeds is as easy as gardening gets, close to foolproof.
Add water and, if the seeds are viable, they will sprout. To paraphrase the comedian Dan Bennett, one of the safest ways to gamble is to plant a seed.
There is a small shelf of and sprouting, but most provide more than a home gardener needs 鈥� or wants 鈥� to know. The , my favorite on this subject, is a mother lode of information, including specific instructions for sprouting every imaginable crop.
The do's and don'ts
Once you鈥檝e settled on what to sprout and what to sprout (click here to read my first post on this topic), the procedure is straightforward:
- Rinse seeds several times, then soak in water overnight
- Rinse and thoroughly drain seeds
- Place seeds in a sterilized sprouting container
- Set the container in a room-temperature location that receives indirect light
- Rinse and drain the seeds twice daily 鈥� they should be kept damp, not wet
It couldn鈥檛 be easier, with a few caveats:
- Don鈥檛 crowd seeds 鈥� they need good air circulation
- Don鈥檛 place the container in the sun or in a hot location
- Clean the sprouting container with soap and water or in a dishwasher after each use
You鈥檒l probably know by sight when your sprouts are ready to harvest 鈥� you鈥檒l see more sprouts or leaves than seeds 鈥� but I like to taste every time I rinse.
More tips
Time varies by crop, anywhere from three to five days (garbanzo and mung beans, mustard, and radish) to as many as 10 days for chives. Even the slowest sprouts mature fast enough to keep a child interested, if you鈥檙e looking for an indoor project.
Dehulling isn鈥檛 necessary for most crops, but you can brush off hulls with your hand if you want, or submerge the sprouts in water (the hulls rise to the top).
Another approach is to give sprouts a ride . Fill the spinner with the sprouts, immerse it in water and remove any hulls that float to the top, then spin.
With hulls or without, sprouts need to be dry to the touch before you store them in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. (Let them sit for 12 hours after their last rinse, or use a salad spinner to remove excess moisture.)
Storage times vary, but most sprouts should be used within one week. Give your crop the 鈥渟niff鈥� test if you鈥檙e in doubt 鈥� if they don鈥檛 smell fresh or they are turning yellow or gray, toss them. After all, you can start a new crop tomorrow.
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Karan Davis Cutler blogs regularly at Diggin鈥� It. She's a former magazine editor and newspaper columnist and the author of scores of garden articles and more than a dozen books, including 鈥淏urpee - The Complete Flower Gardener鈥� and 鈥淗erb Gardening for Dummies.鈥� She now struggles to garden in the unyieldingly dense clay of Addison County, Vt., on the shore of Lake Champlain, where she is working on a book about gardening to attract birds and other wildlife. To read more by Karan, click here.
