My new project for this winter is to grow my own sprouts.  Hopefully this will fill my gardening void and will supply fresh green items to my dishes for the long winter months.

The idea for growing sprouts arose on my last visit back to Maine when I found out interesting news that my Pops was an avid sprout grower when my brother and I were younger.    I must have been too young to remember but my two responses to him after discovering this exciting news was 1) Why did you stop and 2) What do I need to start this project up in my own kitchen.  Apparently all I need was some sprouting seeds, water and a jar that had a lid with holes poked through to act as a strainer.  I was sure that I would be able to find the jar and special lid at a health food store, but a recent snow storm kept me off the streets and straight to the web to search for this item.  It didn’t take me long before i found these sprouting lids and at a reasonable price.  They fit securely on any large mason jar, which I found were also inexpensive at the hardware store so now all I needed were some sprout seeds.

For my experimental batch I went with Chinese Mung Beans (love them in stir frys) and a spring salad mix of Clover, Alfalfa and Pea Sprouts to add to salads and sandwiches.  The directions are very simple:

• Place two TBS of seeds into a jar and soak in cool water overnight
• Next morning tip the jar upside down so water drains out of the lid
• Continue to rinse the sprouts with water twice a day and make sure all excess water is out of the jar
• Keep sprout jar on its side and continue the rinsing process for 5-6 days then harvest the sprouts dry and keep refrigerated

I am day two into my adventure and things are still going smooth.  I can’ wait to share the finished product!  Also let me know if anyone has interesting sprout uses and recipes!