Sprouty Sprout Sprouts

Almost 2 years ago, I had been craving alfalfa bad. I was pregnant with our second and the desire for those delicious greens was hitting me hard. But as a pregnant woman, you’re not supposed to buy sprouts at the supermarket because it often has terrible bacteria from less than fresh growing conditions such as salmonella or e. coli which can be dangerous for you and the fetus. Not to mention alfalfa is oddly expensive for such little plants.

What could I do? I was dreaming of it every night, so I finally looked into growing my own. Recently, the whole microgreens and sprout industry has picked up, no doubt because people want closer and easier access to their own food.

The original way that people do it is placing seeds in a mason jar, stretching and tying mesh hosiery over the opening, and adding water then draining multiple times a day. That method was okay, but I found that if I didn’t do it every couple of hours, the sprouts would dry out and die. (I think the key to it not drying would have been to keep it mouth side down on the counter instead of right side up.)

Anyway, I’d have to be running five or six jars at once in order to get the same amount. In comes spouting trays. The idea behind it is simple: Stackable trays with drainage holes. You add a teaspoon of seeds to each level and then add water a few times a day, enough to rinse the seeds. Within 5 – 7 days, you’ll have delicious sprouts for your salads or sandwiches. The main thing is that you should have water rinsing through the seeds every so often so that they don’t rot/ferment.

I usually begin sprouting during the fall and winter, when leafy vegetables start getting expensive. I’ve tried alfalfa, radish, and cress, but I found that radish sprouts are too strong for my taste if I eat root and all, and unfortunately, the leaves rot when touched with water. I believe radish should really only be sprouted upright, instead of being rinsed, and then given a haircut whenever you want to use it (like in eggshells). I haven’t done that yet, but will be in the coming weeks.

The tray that I ended up getting was the Victorio VKP1014 4-Tray Kitchen Crop Sprouter which is sold on Amazon. I really like it and have not had some of the problems other people reportedly have with it (including not draining.) My only issue with this is that my next unit will definitely not be plastic, since I’ve started slowly removing plastic from our lives, but for the price, I can’t complain. With this particular sprouter, you should make sure to rotate which tray is on top every time you rinse so that each level gets fresh water at some point or another. They grow better and faster that way. I also replenish as each level gets depleted, so I always have sprouts just a day or two away. Once they are at the age to be eaten, I’ll put them in full sun for a couple of hours to green them up.