Kitchen Sprouter
By Joseph Parish

Having looked carefully at all the commercial kitchen sprouter that are on the market I decided that prior to purchasing a store bought unit that I would try to make my own. I felt it would be very simple to take a mason jar, a rubber band and some cheese cloth and construct my own.

The first task that encountered was the need to figure out exactly which seed I would want to sprout. After I determine the sprouts that were needed a paid a quick visit to the local health food store and purchased approximately an ounce of that particular seed While I was looking at the selection in the health food stor4e I decided to pick up several other varieties to try at the same time.

There my research I discovered that most people who start to sprout seeds usually begin with Mung beans, radish, peas or alfalfa since these are the sprouts that are usually found at most of the salad bars. Keep in mind that you do not want to mix these seeds but rather you should use a different jar for each type of seed.

To start your seeds use a tablespoon of seed for a 1/4 cup of final sprouts. After you have used them for a while you will find that they are not so difficult to use and are actually very easy to figure out the quantities needed. Rinse the seeds off well and drain any excess water from them. Next let them sit for several hours to completely dry. Now rinse the seeds one more time and let them sit unbothered over night.

The following days remove what water may be left and in a couple of days you should have a garden of sprouts being grown. Some sprouts may take as much as 3 or 4 days to sprout and obtain their full flavor. Keep your sprouts in a dark place in your kitchen.

Keep in mind that if your family is not familiar with eating sprouts you are more then likely to encounter some initial resistance. Mung sprouts can readily be used in a
Variety of different dishes in order to enhance both the foods eye appeal as well as the flavor. You will find that the radish sprouts are a bit on the spicy side but can add a slight tangy taste to a sandwich.

Wheat sprouts are a great addition to your breakfast and can easily be added to your cooked cereal. They are especially desirable in Ezekiel bread while there is certainly no harm in using them in baking regular wheat bread also.

Some people wonder about the seeds sprouting in the garden and the answer to this concern is yes they can be. They can readily be employed in the garden in order to grow next year’s new sprouts. The only problem here would be the particular variety may not do well at your specific location. It would require you to develop your specific seed stock.

Growing the alfalfa for seed is an interesting process which is best completed with the help of leaf cutter bees and a sparsely populated field of various alfalfa plants. The plants appear to end up resembling tumble weeds for which you can observe the spirals as they get larger as the summer wears on. A five gallon bucket of alfalfa seed would last the majority of families for over a year even if they sprouted on a daily basis.

Copyright @2008 by Joseph Parish