Sprouts!

Have you tried growing sprouts? Its really easy and much cheaper than store bought sprouts. Its also great way to grow some vegetables in a small amount of space, or in the winter, when outdoor gardening becomes more difficult. You can add them to salads, stirfries, and sandwiches, and they are a good source of vitamins.


To grow sprouts you will need sprouting seed, a mesh screen, and a mason jar with a lid. Sprouting seed are different than seeds needed for full sized plants, so you may have a hard time finding them. I got mine at the local hippy store, as well as a mason jar sized screen to use in place of the lid. There are several websites you can by sprouting seeds from too.

First, place 2-4 tablespoons of seeds in your mason jar, and cover with twice as much water. Leave them to sit over night. Drain in the morning.
Twice a day, rinse the seeds with water, and drain.
Your seeds should start to sprout in a few days, and should have grown enough to be edible within a week.

There have been some issues with sprouts getting moldy, or carrying salmonella. That was with large corporations, and not something that I worry about with my home grown sprouts. My advice would be to only grow a small amount of sprouts at a time, and to refrigerate them once they are done growing. If you are really concerned about this you can buy more complicated (and expensive) growing systems, made up of a series of mesh trays.