Sprouting Update

My sprouting experiment is going great! I have already harvested and eaten my first batch of sprouts. It is very easy to do once you get a good system going.

I found that the jar method didn't work well for me because the washing was cumbersome, so I tried something different. Now it is just a matter of washing the sprouts twice a day which, with my new system, takes about one to three minutes depending on how many sprouts I have going.

It's kind of like having a pet: I have to make sure the sprouts are taken car of twice a day otherwise they get dry or smelly.

This is a sprout mix I made with radish, clover, alfalfa, and broccoli. Broccoli sprouts are supposed to be very good for you. I did a whole tray of broccoli sprouts but they got kind of stinky and I threw them in the composter. I didn't want to risk it. I think they had a bad start in the jar.

I soak the sprouts in a big bowl to get rid of the hulls.

I use my stove as a sprout drying rack, since I don't cook much. It works pretty well. I also use my stove as a dish drying rack since I seem to have lost mine along the way. It's a multipurpose surface.

I got sick of the jar method. Mainly, it is difficult to drain. It also bothers me that the sprouts grow all jumbled up together and don't get a chance to green. I started experimenting with different containers to grow sprouts in.

In this picture, the sprouts are in a corn based container I got salad in, and my plastic mousie is watching over. I punched some holes in the bottom to let it drain. This is the radish/broccoli sprout mix after I freed it from the jar.


Because of my concern for the sprouts' living conditions, I decided to try sprouting on dehydrator trays. This is working very well! I start the sprouts in jars until they are big enough to put on the sheets without falling through. I am also researching different store bought sprouters, although this dehydrator tray system seems to be working well. I like reusing things I already have.

I am planning to set up a metro rack so trays can be set up outside of the dehydrator. I would like them to get more sun. I also think it would be wonderful to have a whole rack of sprouts. I have some great ideas for the metro rack sprout center and I will post them here later.

This method seems to make washing go a lot faster because I don't have to worry about propping the jars up, making sure the bulk of the water gets out of the jar, or fretting over the living conditions of the each little sprout. It also gives the sprouts room to stretch, grow, and (most importantly) GREEN!

I wash the sprouts in the shower. I have a filter on my shower head so chlorine is filtered out. I have also read it is good to wash them with a spray and some pressure so the hulls are pushed away.

These are clover sprouts growing on the tray.

This is the sprout mix after being harvested. Nice and green, huh?

Yum!

Cheap Eats and Sprouts

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not making enough to cover my rent. This means I also don't have enough to buy food, although I do get food stamps now that I'm not werkin. When you eat only vegetables, food stamps don't go quite as far as you'd like because for some reason they are more expensive than packaged food filled with fortifications and food coloring.

I don't go out drinking, spend money on a car (although I have used Flexcar for work), buy drugs, pay a health insurance policy, have kids, go shopping, or any other money sucking habits or addictions, so food is pretty much all I spend money on. (Unless you think health falls into that category...)

I feel that my health is top priority and the best way to be healthy is to eat good food, specifically fruits and vegetables. But fruits and vegetables cost a lot more than beans and rice, which I consider to be super cheap eats (unless you don't mind eating Alpo, which is what my mom predicts she'll be living on in old age).

Being all poor and stuff, I thought shopping at the year-round People's Farmers Market on Wednesdays would be a smart thing. So I went. I was wrong. I accidentally spent $15 on a bag of bok choi and some salad greens. This was not an impressive amount of bok choi. It will probably last me a few days.

I am not complaining about the price. I think farmers should get a fair wage and I would of course rather eat local than something trucked in, but I also think it would be nice if buying local was affordable for everyone. While we're at it, I might as well go all the way and say I wish everyone could just eat out of their back yard instead of choosing to mow it.

Some things in our society are really off. Everyone should be able to eat "the best food ever."

After the trip to the farmers market (and scouring my house for things to sell) I decided I needed a new solution to this issue. Clearly I can't continue to buy and consume only local organic produce as I have been.

My goal for this month is to spend just $30 for the rest of the month on food. If you know anything about my food bills in the past, you are laughing at this goal because I have easily spent this much on food meant to last three days or less.

But I have a plan! Sprouts!

I am going to spend my $30 on the following items:

• a bag of sunflower seeds
• seeds for sprouting, such as alfalfa and clover
• lentils and mung beans

The seeds I am going to soak and make milky-type stuff out of, pates, raw breads, and stuff. The beans and seeds I am going to sprout into greens. For fruit I will eat Larabars I have at the house and occasionally indulge in an apple or bananas. For added greens I will eat the rest of the Vitamineral Greens and Greener Grasses I have. I already have some basics like oil and sweetener, plus a fridge full of recently purchased greens ($15 worth of bok choi, in fact). I imagine I will go over the $30 to purchase fresh things occasionally like carrots or onions, but I will aim to keep that at a minimum.

In addition to this I am also going to start a container garden, harvest edible weeds, and will leave my magic plastic money cards at home so I am forced to find new solutions to getting food besides purchasing it in the store.

I am actually rather excited about this new plan. I'll let you know how it goes.