I arrived in California late last night to be an extra hand for my step daughter, husband, and two babies, the younger of whom - an infant - had brain surgery not long ago. He is doing well, but Mama is a little overwhelmed, I think. I am glad to be here.
Since my last post I have catered a wedding which took far more time and money than it ordinarily would have due to a perfect storm of circumstances. It was a beautiful wedding, but still not entirely negotiated even though it is over. Post wedding work was still happening two days later, and then I traveled here, so I am writing this post later than I planned.
SPROUTING
Several significant things happen when you sprout a seed.
Speaking succinctly but unscientifically, sprouting unlocks the life in the seed.
So what actually happens?
One of the most miraculous things about seeds is that they
contain several hormones that control dormancy and the breaking of dormancy.
Abscisic acid (ABA) regulates dormancy and suppresses germination.
It prevents the seed from sprouting until conditions in the environment
are optimum for growth - the right temperature, oxygen, light, and
especially water - so that the tiny plant will survive.
There are also several other hormones that help counteract ABA and promote
germination and rapid new growth, especially medial (central and upward) growth,
so that when conditions are right, the seed can sprout.
Regarding germination the main item is water control and air control.
The plant will not sprout until it has been in contact with water
long enough to signal that there is enough water in the
environment for survival of the seedling. And it will die of
suffocation if there is not enough air flow.
So to little jar of sprouting seeds on your counter.
SPROUTING 101
1.) Place a small amount of seed
(we will discuss options and amounts later)
in a wide mouthed mason jar with either a sprouting lid,
which can be obtained in almost any health food store,
or with cheesecloth over the mouth held on with a rubber band.
2.) No matter what seeds you are sprouting you begin the
same way - by soaking your seed in a jar overnight in
good water. Make sure the seed is well covered with plenty
of water so the seed stays covered as it swells. At least four
times the amount of water as seed.
3.) In the morning drain out the water and then rinse it again.
4.) HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! Dump out the
new rinse water and place the jar UPSIDE DOWN on a diagonal
slant in the dish drainer and let it drain completely. The reason to
keep it on the diagonal is so that some air can circulate in the jar.
I try to keep the jar on a slant as I am pouring out the rinse water,
so the seed doesn't completely cover the mouth of the jar at the end.
Incomplete draining is the main reason people are not successful
with sprouting. If there is a little pool of water in the bottom of the jar
it will cause mold to form in just a couple of days. If you drain
completely this won't happen. I generally leave it in the dish
drainer if there is room.
5.) Repeat this rinsing and draining two or three
times a day until the sprouts are as big (long) as
you want them. To clarify:
There is quite a bit of leeway in the length of sprouts,
but there are some optimum lengths for certain kinds.
For instance, the traditional mung sprout - which is what
most people have been educated to think of as "bean
sprouts" - are usually eaten about two inches long.
However, to sprout mung beans to 2" long takes a
special procedure, and I personally never make them
myself. Organically grown mung sprouts (bean sprouts)
are easily available at most grocery stores.
You can, however, easily grow and use them only a
half inch long. They just won't be as juicy.
Alfalfa sprouts are usually grow about 1 1/2" long, also
broccoli sprouts. Beans are usually only sprouted until
the actual sprout just starts to protrude out from the bean.
Except for lentil sprouts. They can be eaten at several lengths.
SPROUTING LENTILS
If you are new to sprouting I suggest starting
with the easiest seeds to sprout - lentils.
It can be any kind of lentils - those little green french ones
or the larger browner ones, so long as they are whole.
A broken seed is a dead seed.
The beauty of sprouting lentils is: 1. they can be eaten at
any length from a tiny sprout the length of the seed
or until they are long enough for the first leaves begin to
appear - over an inch. 2. because they are not delicate
like broccoli or alfalfa or radish sprouts, they are a
lot less prone to going bad either from mold or drying out
if you forget to rinse them enough.
Once they have started to sprout, you can begin to eat them
right away and continue to rinse, drain and eat them
until they have reached almost leaf stage. The jar stays the
same fulness for several days even though you are eating
them because they just keep growing.
Anytime you want to stop or severely curtail the sprouting,
put the jar with the the sprouting top or cheesecloth right
into the refrigerator. DO NOT PUT A CLOSED LID ON THEM.
They still need to breathe. These are living plants and need air.
When my camera arrives here from Maine in a few days,
I'll sprout some lentils and show you pictures. I was too rushed
getting ready and forgot to pack it so Doug is
sending it to me tomorrow
Any specific questions, write and ask.
I'll be talking more about sprouts and sprouting
this week.
- like WHY do it!
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