Winter Sprouts

It's so satisfying to grow sprouts in the winter.  They delicious, nutritious live foods, with a gorgeous fresh green colour and flavour that we crave in the cold months.  We are growing a variety of sprouts in trays of soil this year (in the months before our grow racks are needed to hold our seedlings) - pea shoots, cilantro greens, lettuces, arugula, sunflower shoots, chives...and cat grass that our 3 year old is tending patiently (aka. wheat grass, which grows so quickly that it's exciting for kids to care for).  Most sprouts only take about a week to grow (depending on how warm your house is), and some can be cut to grow again (cilantro, lettuces).  They prefer nice steady temperatures and watering, so we like to mist them every day and keep them under plastic lids in a grow rack wrapped with greenhouse grade plastic sheeting to keep out the drafts.  After they have germinated we turn on the lights so they can green up more quickly.  Our favourite source for sprouting seeds and other materials is Mumm's, in Saskatchewan.