Seed Sprouting

We celebrated 2 different birthdays this weekend (neither of them mine). And for each of the birthday girls, I made up a little sprout growing kit.



I used untreated seeds from my gardening stash along with seeds from my pantry. SproutPeople was a huge resource in deciding what to use.

If you're interested, you can click the picture above and mouse over it to see which seeds are which.



How To
-Basically, I repurposed a cleaned, plastic egg container by filling it with very wet coconut fiber.
-Then I sprinkled it with the seeds, one type per section.
-After I'd gotten all the seeds where I wanted them, I covered them with plastic wrap. (I'd already cut off the top part of the egg container for a different project. But, if you have an intact egg carton it would work brilliantly to just close the entire thing back up.)
-I told the birthday girls to take off the plastic as soon as they start to grow stems and their first leaves pop out.
-In order to spell out the names, I was unable to get them where I wanted them on the first go, so I scooched them into place with a toothpick, which was way easier than obsessing about getting them there initially.





The Seeds I Used (after narrowing it down)
-Dill
-Mustard
-Fenugreek*
-Quinoa*
-Black Lentils*
-Amaranth*
-Broccoli
-Sugar Snap Peas
-Oat Grass
-Mung Beans*
-Sesame Seeds* (these didn't actually sprout, but I just had to give them a shot, if only because of Mitch.)
-Buckwheat
(*Seeds directly from our pantry)

Tips
-If you live in a very humid environment and are worried about mold, it helps to mix up a solution of 1 tsp citric acid (they actually sell this in the pharmacy area if you can't find it with canning supplies) and 1 quart of water to wet the coconut fiber and seeds with.
-If you use bigger seeds (peas, mung beans, fenugreek or buckwheat for me) it helps the process if you soak them in warm water for half an hour or so before putting them on the coconut fiber.

If you want to see what they looked like after they just started to sprout, take a look here or here or here. The amaranth looks particularly cool. I think.

I know at least one of the girls is very very picky and I'm hoping that she may be inspired to try eating something new.

I'm thinking that a blindfolded, tasting game would be just the thing.

Note-Here's what it looks like about a week after planting. Some of them have obviously made it past the 'sprout' stage without being devoured. Oh well, at least they look pretty.


(Thanks for the picture, Aurora.)

Oh yah, watch out for the mustard... it's hot.