We've planted seeds in the greenhouse and cold frames already, in hopes of harvesting some late winter greens. Today we started our indoor winter sprout garden. All this really meant was pulling out the wide mouth mason jars, finding mesh lids for them, and soaking several batches of seeds. We love the sprout seed mixes from
Mumm's in Saskatchewan - like spicy lentil crunch, sandwich booster, spring salad mix, brassicas blend, ancient eastern blend, etc - but of course you can simply buy organic seeds and mix your own variations together. It's best to blend seedsor beans that are of similar size, so they germinate at a similar rate. You can also sprout individual kinds of seeds, like the common alfalfa sprouts, mung beans, pea sprouts, wheat grass, or sunflower shoots.
It was fun for our 2-year old to help with this "garden" project, and she happily mixed and watered seeds, stirred them in their jars, and helped set up the draining station (we drain the jars propped upside down on a slight angle, supported in a wire dish rack). She can watch the progress of these growing seeds, which are satisfyingly quick to sprout and ready to eat in only a few days! We are already looking forward to our next winter picnic with homemade bread, hummus and fresh homegrown sprouts!
If you live locally and want to learn more about sprouting, check out our
workshop on Wheatgrass/Sprouting, coming up on February 12.
I forgot to tell you about the little trick I came up with since attending your last sprouting workshop (loved it, and totally recommend it to anyone intimidated by the whole process!): I bought several of the old mason jars that have rubber rings and lids attached with a wire latch. I put mesh over the top with a rubber band as usual, and discovered that when I flipped the jar upside down I could just tilt the jar back on the attached lid, and because of the fastening it stayed at a perfect angle all on it's own! Easy breezy! Hope that makes sense! It makes the easy process of sprouting even easier!! :)
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