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Growing vegetables and greens at home is something I’ve always tried to do wherever we’ve lived. Sometimes there’s been a nice bit of sunny lawn to put a garden in, but other times we’ve lived in areas where it’s just not possible and we rely on other ways to grow food indoors.
I am proud to begin this post by highlighting my amazing parents, Steve and Sharon Bacon, and their business Four Season Greens. They are located in Muskoka, Ontario, and one part of their farm is dedicated to growing Organic, Non-GMO sprouts, which are delivered to stores and restaurants all over Muskoka. In addition to growing sprouts, they also grow many different herbs, microgreens, and lettuces (aquaponics).
When I first went off to nursing school, my parents gave me my own sprouting kit and I frequently grew my own healthy sprouts on the counter in the little residence apartment. Every home since then has had either a jar or basket on the go at some point. I have noticed a huge difference in my health when I regularly eat sprouts, compared to when I forget to make some for a while. No colds or illness, high energy, and good sleep!
Why are sprouts so important?
Sprouts are categorized as “Super Foods”, which essentially means that they have an incredibly high concentration of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and many other nutritional factors to support health and wellness.
Often, the sprouted seeds will have much more nutritional value then the fully grown vegetable.
My favourite example of this is broccoli. We love eating the mature broccoli, and have it at least once a week in a stir fry or as a cooked green vegetable next to our protein entree. (Our oldest calls broccoli her “little trees” and nibbles away at the “leaves”!)
But essentially, 2 tablespoons of dry broccoli seed can be sprouted into approximately 270g when finished growing in the steel sprouting basket, and has the same nutritional benefits as 29.5lbs when fully grown. That’s like 30 large heads of broccoli!
For a little more insight into this, you can see the video below that my father Steve did, explaining more of the science and giving a great visual example. (Yes, he bought 30 heads of broccoli for this illustration, and yes, we were eating and tooting all that broccoli for the next few weeks!)
New to Sprouting?
When new to sprouting, and not sure what to sprout first, it is best to try something that you know your tastebuds will like. For example, we have two young kids who do not like anything spicy or strong flavours, so we prefer to sprout gentler tastes such as:
- Clover (protein, packed with vitamins & minerals)
- Alfalfa (builds up immune system and lowers cholesterol)
- Or a mix like sandwich booster (you can check out many tasty sprout seed blends from Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds)
If you are a bit more adventurous and want to try a stronger taste then there is
- broccoli (regulates blood pressure, anti-cancer, lowers cholesterol & inflammation)
- radish (colds/urinary infections)
- Garlic chives (lowers cholesterol and supports immune system)
- Mung beans (rich in protein, anti-cancer)
These are only a few of the more well known types of sprouts and I have only highlighted a crumb of the health benefits. Click HERE to see more information on sprouting nutrition from Four Season Greens.
Sprouting is easy, and once you make it a part of your daily routine to take care of growing them, your body will LOVE the good nutrition!
A Few Ways to eat Delicious, Home-Grown Sprouts:
There are many other ways to enjoy healthy and nutritional sprouts! (My next project to learn about is sprouted bread! If I can learn how to make it successfully, I will share on here at some point).
How to Grow Your Own Sprouts (Jar/Basket Method):
Instructions below have been taken from my parent’s business: Four Season Greens. There is a free printable PDF that you can download from their website at this link: HERE. There are also some great daily videos on this link’s page that are a step-by-step guide of what to expect each day when growing your own sprouts. (This might be particularly helpful when learning how to transition the sprouts from the jar to growing basket).
Sprouting requires approx. 2 minutes per day, mostly rinsing in the morning (breakfast) and evening (dinner), 12 hours apart. A third rinse, particularly in hot weather, is ideal.
1. Soaking Phase (Day 1):
- Fill a 500 ml jar ½ full of (cold) water.
- If you are on well water: Add 7-8 drops of food grade Hydrogen Peroxide (35% solution). You have now created an 3% dilution. Disregard if you are on town/city water, as there is already chlorine added to the tap water.
- Add 2 Tbsp seed. Place screen, cheesecloth or lid in place on jar.
- Let soak* (see below for soaking times for different seeds):
2. Jar Rinsing Phase (Days 1-3):
- At end of soaking time, drain off water, turn jar on 45 degree angle to continue draining.
- (Place in bowl or dish rack. Be careful not to let the seed block the mouth of the jar too much; sprouts need ventilation.)
- Let drain for 8-12 hours*.
- Fill jar with cold water. Gently agitate for a couple of seconds. Drain immediately.
- Repeat (fill, drain) for the next 48 hours.
- *Rinse in 8 or 12 hour cycles; breakfast and dinnertime works best.
- Rinsing greater than 12 hours apart will result in seed drying out.
- Rinsing 3 x per day is ideal.
3. Basket Transition (Day 4):
- Fill jar with water.
- Shake gently to loosen any seeds stuck to the screen.
- Remove screen (or cheesecloth).
- Place basket in the sink.
- Empty jar into basket.
- To evenly spread seed around: (without handling the seeds, which can damage them, causing them to rot) Use the “panning for gold” technique:
- Fill a bowl (slightly bigger than basket) with water.
- Immerse basket. Seed shells will float, which you can gently scoop out.
- Gently even the remaining seed out with your hand.
- Lift basket out of the water.
- Place in plastic drip tray.
- Cover with dome.
- Continue to rinse every 12 hours (minimum), replacing dome each time.
- (For continuous supply of sprouts, begin soaking next batch of seed in the jar on day 5.)
4. Basket Rinsing (Days 5-7):
- Day 5: Continue to rinse every 12 hours (minimum). Place dome lid ½ on to encourage air flow.
- Day 6 & 7: Continue to rinse every 12 hours (minimum). Remove dome
- For these last 3 days, if you want greener sprouts (more chlorophyll):
- Place basket near window (no direct sunlight), or under grow-lights.
5. Harvesting:
- Gently grab a clump of sprouts, wiggle and gently pull out.
- Place sprouts in an airtight container in fridge.
- Sprouts will keep for a week or more.
- To clean basket:
- Pull out most of the sprout bits.
- Let dry upside-down (1/2 day).
- Using dry brush, gently brush off dry sprout bits.
- Place in dishwasher or hand wash. (Plastic dome and tray must be hand washed.)
Seed soaking times:
1-2 hours: Broccoli
3-5 hours: Small seeds (alfalfa, radish, garlic chives, clover, fenugreek),
8-12 hours: Grains, peas, sunflower, and other big seeds
(Grains, such as wheat, barley, spelt, oats, kamut, etc., are not grown in baskets.)
Where to Buy Non-GMO/Organic Sprouting Seed:
We buy our seeds in bulk from a Non-GMO/Organic company in Saskatchewan, Canada: Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds. They are a family run company with wonderfully sourced product! For orders within Canada, shipping is free over $40, and for USA orders it is free if over $100.
To some folks that might seem like a lot to get the free shipping, but nutritionally it is so worth it. We usually buy bulk orders every 2 years to get the free shipping and make it worth shipping it all the way to our remote part of Ontario.
As a side note, when buying in bulk and not using seed up as quickly, you can put the sprouting seeds in a sealed bag in the freezer, and this will prolong the germination quality until you are ready to use it. (I learned this seed hack from my father Steve!)
What Supplies do I Need to Grow My Own Sprouts?
Technically, all you need is a large glass jar, an elastic, and some fine screen mesh (you can usually find this at your local hardware store). When the sprouts get too full in the glass jar, simply take them out, rinse out the seed hulls, let them dry a little on some fresh paper towel, and then store them in the fridge in a sealed container. The nice thing about the growing basket is that it extends the growing time so that your sprouts produce more. It also leaves the option for them to get greener during the last 2 days in the basked and produce more chlorophyll.
Personally, I love starting my sprouts in a large 1 litre glass jar and then transferring the sprouts into our steel growing basket, just like in the directions listed above. The sprout grower kit is available to purchase from Four Season Greens at this link HERE. We also have a jar stand similar to THIS ONE on Amazon, to hold the jar when it is in the rinsing and draining stage for Days 1-3. But a clean drain rack in your kitchen will work just as well.
Planning to Grow your own Sprouts?
Let me know how it goes!! Feel free to post to your social media account and tag Northbird using one of the links below or post in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Jessie!
I’m a Wife and Homeschooling Mom living in a remote town in Northern Ontario, Canada. I love making wholesome meals for my family from scratch, homeschooling our girls and learning more about natural living.
Read more about my story HERE.
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