Monday, March 14, 2011
Growing Alfalfa Using Recycled Containers
I've been fascinated with growing alfalfa sprouts ever since I saw Bren's video on her blog, BGGarden. It seemed so easy! I bought some Botanical Interests Alfalfa seeds from Whole Foods last week. I could not wait to try them! Reading the back of the packet, the first step to growing alfalfa was to soak the seeds in a bleach and water solution for 15 minutes. It calls for 1 teaspoon of bleach in a cup of warm water. The reason for doing this was to kill any E. Coli bacteria that might be lurking in the seeds. You can get sick from eating sprouts! Really, ugh! Into the solution it went, after 15 minutes rinse the seeds well with water.
In Bren's video, she is using this nifty sprout grower. I wasn't sure if I wanted to invest in a sprout kit, so I Googled DIY ways to grow sprouts. I found this interesting video. In this video, he is using common recycled food containers to grow sprouts in. All you need is a wet paper towel to get it started. Okay, let me give this a try. I decided to use a soup container, and punched holes in the lid to allow flow of air.
I inserted a folded wet paper towel just like the video and sprayed it with water after putting the seeds in. I actually put in more seeds after I took this photo.
After 1 day, I checked inside the plastic container and it's already sprouting! Can you see the little sprouts growing? Bigify photo to get a better look. Woohoo! I love eating sprouts, I can't wait to put this in a sandwich. On the back of the Botanical Interests seed packet, it also said you could grow sprouts in mason jars with a sprout lid or cheese cloth covering the jar. It also said to rinse the sprouts with water everyday. Since I'm following the wet paper towel method, I'm not sure if I have to rinse the seeds. I'll have to watch them carefully just to make sure it doesn't get moldy in there. Have you ever grown sprouts using this method before?
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I remember back in the 70's growing sprouts was all the rage..we would take a mason jar and a piece of old panyhose (clean) and put the seeds in the jar and put some water in, put the hose on top with a rubber band and pour the water out, I think we put the jar on it's side and we kept doing that until the jar was full of the sprouts...not very scientific and we didn't know anything about Ecoli in sprouts back then...I enjoyed doing it..have fun!
ReplyDeleteGrowing your own sprouts also takes me back to the 70´s with my mom doing the same thing in one of those stackable plastic sprouters....and home made yogurt..and cod liver oil...Oh my! The list goes on and on! The funny thing is, alot of what my mom subjected me to as a child is staging a comeback again!
ReplyDeleteNo, never grown them. And I really don't eat them either.
ReplyDeleteBut, my horses would take you down for alfalfa.
Hope you have lots of sprout and enjoying yourself with this fun experiment!
ReplyDeleteSo bizarre - never have heard of eating sprouts. Very cool though!
ReplyDeleteNeato!!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried this but it does seem so easy! How long will you keep the seeds in there? You'll have to post an update in a day or two, ok?
ReplyDeleteAlfalfa is a legume usually used as livestock fodder. It is highly nutritious. By sprouting seeds and nuts the nutritional value is greatly increased. Making a tea out of the fresh or dried leaf will nourish you well. I'm one of those demented old ladies with too many cats that did all that in the 70s and still eat my weedies. Right now? dandelion, chickweed, burdock and alfalfa. Don't eat any nutritional weed from and area that has been sprayed or on an area near traffric. Just made dandelion blossom syrup and jelly - free, nutritious and delicious.
ReplyDelete