Good Things from the Garden in the Closet
(Page 3 of 4)
November/December 1971
by ED ZAHNISER
And how do you go about sprouting your own? Casually . . . very casually. You won't even need to put out a penny for equipment, although some elaborate sprouters with tiered trays cost all the way up to the $17.00 neighborhood. Even an ordinary bowl (that's what I use for sprouting wheat) works if you carefully drain the seeds after each sprinkling and I've found that a cheap rummage sale colander is great for larger seeds like mung and soy. Gauze bags, sink strainers and the "nests" from old coffee percolators will also make suitable sprout gardens.
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To run off a batch of fresh mini-vegetables, just soak your beans, alfalfa seeds or whatever overnight in enough water to cover them as they swell. Drain and flush the seeds in the morning and place them in your colander, a ceramic flowerpot resting on two pencils, inverted mason jar with wire gauze over the top or almost anything that will allow the sprouts to remain moist but well-drained.
Let the developing shoots grow in the dark for three to four days. They should be rinsed with clean water every four or five hours but don't lose any sleep over such a rigid schedule. Just water the tiny plants when you go to bed, again when you get up and—if possible—in the middle of the day.
Your little organic vegetables should peak out at highest nutritional content after about 72 hours of growth . . . but give or take 12 hours or so if temperatures in your minigarden are higher or lower than normal.
Don't make the boner I pulled once when—to make sure I'd have "enough"—I threw in a quarter cup of seeds instead of a tablespoonful. That quarter cup mushroomed into such a jungle of shoots that some spoiled before I could eat them. Be content, then, to turn two or three cents worth of seed into thirty cents worth of vegetables . . . unless you have a pet hippo to feed.
You can eat even more economically if you grow your own sprouting stock in an outdoor garden. Soybeans, for instance, mature in 90 days and can be raised in most parts of the country. Why not turn one soybean into many and then sprout the many into even more fresh vegetables? It might be interesting to take one pound of beans, alfalfa or wheat . . . sow the seed . . . harvest the crop . . . sprout the rep and see how many meals are provided.
But enough theory, speculation and evangelical discourse. On with your sprouting! Here's a few tantalizing recipes to inspire you.
EYEOPENER BREAKFAST SPROUTS
Pile fruit in a cereal bowl and top with equal amounts of sprouted wheat and fresh wheat germ. Add a tablespoon of sunflower seeds for special effects. Serve with milk and honey.
