How To Grow Sprouts

Growing veggies at home is everyone’s dream. But sadly, some of us don’t have the time, others lack the space, and some of us just can’t really be bothered to go through any lengthy growing endeavours and/or keep up maintenance. Well, fortunately, you can grow all manner of different sprouts at home in under one week, and you'll need very little effort or equipment. And, even though it’s super easy, they still taste great and are highly nutritious.

In this article, we'll show you how to easily grow sprouts at home, and in no time you'll be watching those little creatures emerging.

What are sprouts?

Sprouts are the generic name for the first shoots that sprout from any number of seeds and beans when they first germinate. Let's take lentils as an example. You may think of them as a hard ingredient that you boil into dal, but actually they are a seed. If kept in the right conditions, they will sprout small plants.

The sprouts of many different seeds can be harvested and consumed in various ways. But you need to know how to do it, and which seeds to avoid using. Some edible seeds and beans can produce sprouts that are toxic, and can upset a person’s stomach.

Why grow sprouts?

Sprouts are an easy home growing project. As they are the seedlings of a plant, they don’t take long to grow at all and require very little care. So, they are a great option for the impatient farmers among us!

What’s more, although they are small, sprouts can be very densely packed with nutrients, meaning that they are not only tasty but also a healthy addition to your diet.

How to grow sprouts

As mentioned, growing sprouts is really easy. It’s certainly within anyone's abilities, and you won't need much time or equipment for it. Remember growing watercress at primary school? Well, that was growing sprouts, and if you could do it at five or six, you can almost certainly do it now.

Here’s how!

Equipment

To grow sprouts, you don’t need much in the way of equipment, and everything you do need should be easily accessible, if you don’t already have it at home anyway.

• Sprouting jars
• Cheesecloth/breathable cloth
• Elastic band

How to make a sprouting jar

A sprouting jar is really easy to make. Just cover the opening of a jar with breathable cloth and secure it with an elastic band. Your chosen seeds will go inside this jar and sprout there. It’s as easy as that.

Directions

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to sprout seeds and beans at home. Let's bring it on.

Step 1: Find the right location

Sprouts need light, but not direct sunlight. Plus, they prefer cool and airy environments.

Something like a north-facing windowsill is perfect. In such a place, they'll get plenty of indirect light, and will never get too hot. Don’t be tempted to put them inside a cupboard, though, as they need some light to trigger the sprouting process.

Step 2: Get your equipment ready

Once you’ve found a location, you need to prepare everything. Choose your seeds, get your jars and cloth ready, and prepare to start the actual sprouting.

Step 3: Soak

To soak, you need about three times as much water as you have seeds. You can measure this by eye or with a cup. The size of the seeds, the expected harvest, and the container will all determine what the actual measurements end up being, but it’s pretty easy to figure it out depending on what you choose to grow.

Step 4: Rinse

You can’t just leave the seeds/beans to sit in water for several days. Rather, you should rinse, drain, and soak roughly twice a day.

So, leave your seeds to soak for around 8 hours. Then, fully drain the water out. To do this, invert the jar upside down so the water drains through the cheesecloth or mesh on top of the jar (or through an extra mesh if you find that easier). Once it’s fully drained, rinse it and empty it again.

After this, you should soak them for another 8 hours and repeat the whole thing. This process goes on for around five days—until your sprouts are ready to be harvested.

Step 5: Maintain airflow

If you want them to grow, you must let your sprouts breathe. Some people leave the jars totally open for this, while most will use a cheesecloth or mesh top.

If you seal the sprouts, they won't grow properly, meaning you won’t get edible results.

Step 6: Harvest and store

Your seeds should sprout within a day or two, and you can harvest them immediately. However, most people leave them to grow for around five days until they have some length to them—like that, you can get a little more out of them!

To harvest them, rinse and drain them one final time. Then, empty them onto a piece of kitchen towel and let them air-dry for between 30 and 60 minutes.

To store your sprouts, place a tea towel or kitchen towel into a Tupperware and fill it with sprouts. Store in a way that keeps moisture out—you don’t want any extra moisture now.

If you store them in this way in the fridge, you should be able to keep them for up to a week. You should not consume them after this time.

Popular sprouts

You can sprout a huge number of seeds and beans, but some of the most popular are:

• Alfalfa
• Mung bean
• Cress
• Basil
• Broccoli

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Sprouting at home: Very easy, very healthy!

As you can see, sprouting at home requires almost no equipment or knowledge, and takes less than a week. This process is fun and rewards you with a nutritious and homegrown array of tasty little seedlings to make into salads, smoothies, or add to any other meal you can think of. What are you waiting for?

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