Whole Foods Diet Archives

More "how to" on sprouts. (Archive in WFD.)

Hi Deanna,

I used to get raw, unhulled sunflower sprouts in the bulk section of
Wild Oats... Now they only carry raw, hulled, sunflower sprouts...
I have not tried sprouting these just yet, and I have put in a
request to Wild Oats... Hey, if enough people request them, maybe
they will bring them back? :)

But if all we have is the unhulled, then I would try the same
technique and see where it takes us... I think the shallow pans
could be great... Sprinkle a layer of dirt on the bottom of the
pans, place seeds on the soil, and cover with more dirt... Water
well, but don't drown them!! Keep them in a relatively sunny spot
and water every day...

With unhulled seeds it would take just about a week for the sprout
to grown and throw off the shell, leaving a two petaled sprout...
If the sprouts are a yellowish green they are not ready and will
taste very astringent... Unlike the fully grown, dark green
sunflower sprouts that will be sweet.

If you wish to mix seeds, consider varieties that can be sprouted in
a jar- like an alfalfa, cabbage, radish mix. It is important to
keep in mind the number of days it will take for the seeds to sprout
when choosing blends. Which is another way to say, size does
matter. Alfalfa, cabbage and radish seeds are all pretty much the
same size- very, very small, so they should all be finished
sprouting at about the same time. If however you throw in lentles
or mung sprouts, then the smaller sprouts, which usually require
less sprout time, would be ready before the larger sprouts. And if
you wait until the larger sprouts are done, there is a good chance
the smaller sprouts would have gone off by that time...

To sprout from a jar, place the seeds (or blend of seeds) in enough
water to cover, with an additional inch or two of water. Play with
this, you will learn which seeds soak up more water than others...
For smaller seeds there will be a shorter soak time (6-8 hours),
larger seeds require a longer soak time (8-12 hours). After this
time, drain, and rinse well. Make sure to rinse, and drain every
day, better yet- a couple times a day. Draining should also entail
tipping the covered but well vented jar upside down and placing at
an angle for the day. This will make sure the sprouts don't sit in
water, and that fresh air can still circulate in the container. The
best way to tell if a sprout is done is by the taste... For
example, I like my green pea sprouts much more mature than the
sprout books recommend...

Now if you want to mix with sunflower seeds, I can suggest this...
Buckwheat sprouts can be grown in soil just like the sunflower
seeds. So divide the tray into two parts, one reserved for the
sunflowers, the other side for the buckwheat, and follow the same
protocol as listed above. The reason you want to separate the two
is that buckwheat greens are very fine, delicate sprouts... Too big
for a jar, but not hardy enough to intertwine with the sunflower
greens. But planting buckwheat along side sunflower greens is a fun
way to begin to appreciate the variety of sprouts available...

I hope that helps...
Be Well,
Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com