Sprout a green, healthy future...on your countertop

Would love to do this but seems really complicated

Is it too late to win a jar?? I would love to try this out. I stopped eating alfalfa sprouts because of gmo contamination. It would be nice to grow my own.

I was so interested in your post about the ease with which one can spout at home. I would so love to win the sprouting jar. I hope I am not too late.

Awesome! I want to try this. Any suggestions where to buy organic non gmo seeds for sprouting?

I’ve gotta try this! My aunt sprouts seeds all the time.

This is a great way to conserve water also, think about all the water that goes into producing lettuce (to grow and clean), not to mention those stupid plastic cartons it comes in.

Would be great to grow my own sprouts! Thanks for posting such great pointers!

tried to print this (using your print button) but ended up with 2 empty pages with just your David Suzuki logo on the top. Waste of paper!

When I first learned that I was pregnant, I was devastated to hear that I wasn’t to eat sprouts until I finished nursing… I wish i had come across this earlier, but I’m glad to know for next time :) Thx for the great post!

Excellent idea, I’ll have to give this a try! I’ll be out checking out, The Soap Dispensary too.

As a child we always had some kind of sprouts growing on damp blotting paper on our windowsill. Usually mustard cress, which is tasty and lovely in egg sandwiches. This has reminded me to start sprouting again.

We were able to buy these in packets at the garden centre. Is it still possible to buy them like this?

I would love to win a sprouting system. What a great way to grow your own greens in the winter!!

I love sprouts on sandwiches and salads and have always wanted to try sprouting on my own at home. It sounds so simple to do — I can’t wait to get started!

Where can you be assured of a steady supply of sprouting seeds? Health food stores?

I have been researching a better sprouting system than the one I have now. This looks perfect!

Definitely going to try this! Thanks!

I love sprouts. I try to grow them as often as possible. I have a North facing kitchen so the seem to take a little longer to be ready but they’re so yummy when they are!

I tried a system similar to this and my poor alfalfa seeds rotted. This works better: soak for one or two days. Then remove from the jar and place on a shallow dish. Cover until the greens start to sprout. Afterwards, remove cover and spray with a mister as often as you pass by (don’t overwater or they will rot. There should not be excess water in the plate). It is almost Persian New Year so we usually sprout wheat and lentils (we don’t eat them though

I have been enjoying sprouts in my diet for the last three weeks or so. A salad will never be complete without sprouts as far as I’m concerned.

I would love to start sprouting. It has always seemed like a complex task but this is an easy system to use.

Thanks for such simple instructions. I look forward to trying this! :)

I didn’t even know this was possible!

i used to sprout all the time — what ever stops us from doing these things — just got lazy and started buying them and you are right — the fresh made are so much better — i will have to get a new jar!

I Love the simplicity of growing your own precious green sprouts. Memories from my childhood when placing a bean in paper towel (damp) and eagerly awaiting it’s arrival. :) Thanks for sharing this article. Much Love, Light and Holistic Healing sent your way always dear friend. <3

Wow, I’d really love to learn to sprout. My dad made us lentil sprouts growing up and I loved them.

What do they do to the seeds to make sure they are safe at the beginning of the sprouting process. I am of course concerned if they are radiating them in some way that does not alter their ability to sprout or soaking them in something that I am not familiar with. I have to admit that I abandoned the idea of sprouting when reports of samonella came out. I would really like to try this out at home, as I used to love sprout sandwiches and using them in my stir fries! There is just something about how fresh and crispy raw sprouts are. I like the idea of using the screening as it is easy to clean with a brush, can I use ordinary aluminum screening (used for doors) cut to fit? Thank you for this article renewing my interest in an old love!

Can you advise on how to end up with sprouts in a tray that grow straight up towards the light?

I think this is a great system…I would love to win and be able to use it. Thanks for the info. I didn’t know you needed to have sprouting seeds…

What a great method, thanks for sharing!

i love this and the suggestion that you purchase sprouting seeds because they have been cleaned to prevent e-coli is an important tip.

I saw one of these in store today and was VERY close to purchasing! Will do next time if I don’t win :D

We’ve been getting living organic sprouts from our winter CSA over the past few months… They are like a splash of summer sitting right on my counter. I can’t wait to try starting my own! Thanks for the info!

We love sprouting ‘mighty’ mung beans!

mmmm i love sprouts, especially in my smoothies. Avacado, blueberries, a little apple juice and sprouts! Does a body good!

I have used a similar system on and off for the last 40 years! It works really well. If I was the lucky winner, I’d give the prize to my sons to get them started on sprouting.

Such a healthy and fun way to eat your greens! Where is the best spot to buy sprouting seeds?

I love the use of a mason jar in this sprout growing system!

I bought sprouting seeds with the hopes of sprouting … but I have yet to do it. This might be the motivation that I need!

its looks good! I’ll have to get the equipment, or maybe, I will win it!

I love bean sprouts!!

what a great idea!! would love to try this out.

I absolutely love sprouting. Thanks for the article. It’s a good reminder to get back into the sprouting scene. :)

This is a great way to get healthy local greens in the winter time. Yummy!

I want one! And I love the soap dispensary!

And they’re great for parrots too!

Great idea. I’ve used cheesecloth before, but this would be even better.

Looks awesome! I definitely need to try growing more things in my apartment!

What a nice, simple sprouter! Love it!

We buy sprouts from our favourite vendor at the Brickworks farmers market every Saturday (Toronto). We love sprouts in our salads! Who knew it was so easy to sprout! We would love to win this giveaway.

This is cool. I am truly interested in growing veggies during winter months. Thanks

Wow this is a terrific easy way to get great sprouts. I’m totally going to try it.

i would love to try my own sprouts, we grow just about everything else around here…pick me!!!

I am excited to start doing this! I think it would also be a great project to involve my 2-1/2 year in to teach him about how things grow! We are started to vermicompost this week, and hopefully sprouting is next. Thanks for a great article

This would be amazing to win. I decided yesterday to start living healthier and today I joined a gym. So to win this and add to my healthy changes would be awesome

Wow! This is a lot easier then I thought it would be :D

I’ve been wanting to start sprouting! The instructions in this post are really helpful: winning the sprouter kit wouldn’t hurt either:)

I haven’t done any sprouting Ina long time. It would be great to get started again:)

Oooh, I would love one of those. Being in Winterpeg, we don’t get the greatest produce all year long!

I would love this to help me with my goal of making more sprouts and herbs this year!

I would love to try this. I remember my mom growing sprouts back in the 80’s but in plastic.

Living in a colder climate, sprouting has become an essential staple in my house, and a great way to get some greens when everything else is cold and dreary. I’d love to win the sprouting kit!

I’ve been sprouting beans since the ’70s, but this set up is much nicer looking than my jar with nail holes punched in the lid. Mung beans seem to give me the most success, btw!

Thanks for this post and thanks to The Soap Dispensary for the donation. I’ve been off work wjith a broken ankle for a month and still 2 more weeks to come with no benefits and this is a great idea to have fresh produce without spending lots of money. Great post Tovah Paglaro.

I’d love to start sprouting! Thanks! :)

Ooohh I love sprouts!! This would be great and a good science lesson for the kids!

I’ve been wanting to try this for awhile! Thanks so much for the info and motivation to do it!

I would love to win this, my daughters and I love sprouts!!

The sprouting system looks easy!

I’d love to have wheat grass on my counter. Interesting article!

Thanks for the reminder! Mung beans are my favourite and I’ve tried lentils too which are good. I’ve also used cheesecloth for the mesh/strainer part. You are amazing Queen of Green. Love your posts!

Great article. Have always been interested in growing sprouts but was nervous about the potential for E.coli.

Nifty, love sprouts!

Oh, I have several bags of sprouting seeds that I’ve been doing with the mason jar and cheesecloth but I would love to get my hands on a mesh-screened lid for my jar!

My colleague and I have been talking about sprouting… we are going to give this a go at the office! Thanks!

Is it too late to enter the draw? I could use some seeds!

Thanks for the great contest. I’ve always wanted to try making my own sprouts since trying sunflower spouts and them being so expensive (but super yummy)

Thanks for having such an amazing blog. Can’t wait to try this!

This is so inspiring. I’m going to try this. Thanks!

Can’t wait to give this a try!

I wanted to try this, but the thought of E.coli scared me off. Thanks for the great information.

Just stumbled upon this site today, already hooked! Time to make use of busted screen doors and mason jars from the cantina.

Very interesting gives me food for thought and sounds delicious as well

My Mom used to do this in the late 70s I wish I had her jar and screen now!

I have always wanted to start sprouting! Pick me this will definitely get me started :) Then I will blog about it!

Is this giveaway done? I just tried sprouting some seeds yesterday! Would love this jar to help my efforts!

I Love Sprouts on the counter!!

Great article on how to grow sprouts easily….so much nutrition in living food, also a source of protein for many who are embarking on a vegan or even vegetarian lifestyle…just another bonus of sprouts!

Thanks — Ketu

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while now — my mother always had a jar of sprouts on the windowsill!

I just talked to a friend yesterday about using sprouted grains and how healthy it is! I’m very excited to try it!

Cant wait to try this, would love to get my daughter involved too, so she can learn about growing and health!!

Have been wanting to try this..you made it look so easy. For sure will do this!

thanks for the idea, i can’t wait to add this to my countertop garden

I would love to give this a try at home!

Thanks for the article. I’m forwarding it to a GF who moved up to Old Crow in the NWT!

Thank you so much for this very simple explanation! Will be trying this weekend!!!

Awesome idea! I must try this for juicing. I’m always looking for healthy greens that aren’t sprayed or bioengineered! I like the idea of the screen to let them breathe and keep from moulding. Thanks

Love the mesh idea!

Thanks for the motivation! I can do this-even in cloudy Ontario.

Nice!

I hadn’t tried eating sprouts until a few months ago, and I recently found a recipe that asks for bean sprouts that I really want to try. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them in the grocery store when I had seen them there just a week earlier! I think I’ll look for these sprouting seeds and try it on my own, thanks!

All organic seed, with no pesticides. It doesn’t get any better than having fresh greens in winter.

Ready to try it!

I love sprouting! clover and alfalfa are among my favourites, but I also like lentil, mung and adzuki sprouts to add to a soup or stir fry at the last minute.

I like it! Living in the north fresh greens are real hard to come by…I’m trying this!

I’ve tried to do some sprouting in the past and never knew what I was doing wrong, but each time the hulls never seemed to amount to anything. From this article, it looks like the trick is to rinse them thoroughly and be patient! I am very excited to getting back into sprouting again as I have had a very lonely bag of seeds in my cupboards for the past 6 months now.

I needed the motivation to get started! Thanks!

I have been wanting to try this for a long time- and you have made it look so easy!

I was sprouting for a while and then I had a batch that went bad and I stopped. Why am I so easily deterred? :-) I was using the cheesecloth and elastic and it was a bit fiddly—difficult to get all the water out. So this mesh insert sounds perfect—I’ve looked for them before but didn’t have much luck. Thanks for the great instructions and inspiration.

Looks interesting, but my apartment tends to be very cold. Is there a minimum temperature at which this will work or are there better seeds for colder temperatures?

I was just thinking about starting to do this at home — what wonderful timing! Thanks!

i remember my mother doing this as a kid, will use this system and try right away. thanks for the tips!

This would be a lot of fun to experiment sprouting with my 5 year old son (and hopefully get him to eat more vegetables!).

I work in a remote location with groceries flown in once per month. I started sprouting so I would have vitamin rich food when the fridge was empty!

Great instructions, thank you. I’m living in a remote area of Cape Breton, without access to food stores with the kind of variety one finds in the city, and in a part of Canada with less hours of annual sunshine than the national average. So being able to grow my own healthy greens indoors in the dead of Winter will be a real boon. Now I just need to get organized!

Thank you so much for this idea!! This would be a fun activity to do with the kids!! :)

wow. Never thought about this before but it would be neat to try!

Sprouts are far more nutritionally beneficial than waiting for the seed to mature into a fruit/vegetable producing plant. And it is, by far, a more productive way to increase your intake of all the beneficial minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that they produce: less grow time, less space and resources, less of a carbon footprint than the actual growing of, say broccoli, … . And think of the acidic nature of our contemporary diets, and the diseases that manifest from the overabundance of the toxic acids that reek havoc on our systems. Sprouts range in the middle of the PH scale, but when they reach the maturity of producing a whole vegetable — broccoli for example, they are far more acidic in nature, and much of the beneficial microbiotic enzymes have been leached out of them by the cycle of maturing.

“Acidic conditions inhibit nerve action whereas alkalinity stimulates nerve action. Cold showers make the blood alkaline, while hot showers make the blood acid. A balanced diet helps to maintain the pH balance of the blood. Results however take more than a couple of days to show up. If blood develops a more acidic condition, then the body will inevitably deposit the excess acid to another area of the body so that the blood will be able to maintain an alkaline condition. As this cycle continues, these areas will increase in acidity and some cells will die. The dead cells will then turn into acids.

Some cells may adapt and instead of dying as normal cells do in an acid environment, they will survive by becoming abnormal. These abnormal cells are known as malignant cells. Malignant cells do not correspond with brain function nor with our DNA memory code. Malignant cells grow indefinitely and without order. This is a cancer precurser…”(http://www.chimachine4u.com/AA.html)

I love sprouting! I use sprouted buckwheat ground up in place of some flour in basic recipes.

sprouted seeds in the 70’s … i needed this reminder of how easy it is

Thanks for the post. I love sprouts. Would love to try this out in my condo!

I used to sprout seeds many years ago and am planning to sprout again. I love the taste, especially radish sprouts, mixed are great also

What a great idea for healthy winter eating! Instead of looking through catalogs for seeds, I will be sprouting some! Thank you~

What a great idea! I would love to try this. It seems so simple.

Im going to do this now. We used to grow spouts all the time in a jar. I love your screen lid. Hope I win one.

I saw this done for the first time last summer it was amazing fun to watch them grow it looks like an alien world inside the jar at most stages.

Can’t wait to start!

LOVE THIS!!! Definitely looking forward to some fresh greens in Calgary in February! Too easy not to try

This looks not only healthy and tasty, it is also a great way to get the children “into” growing food!

Thanks for article and an easy peasy way to start sprouting! Will definately be trying this : )

Perfect timing….i am looking at getting started with sprouting. Thanks for some awesome tips.

This is an awesome idea for where I live as we have a very short window to grow anything in the north as it is, and the quality of the produce we do get is poor and over priced.

I’ve never tried this before but it sounds great and not so difficult. I live in an apartment and have no balcony or place to grow a garden so this would a great opportunity. Most of my produce is bought at farmers markets during the season.

Cool! Would like to try this. Where do we purchase seeds?

I had forgotten my parents doing this until I read your blog. Definitely going to set this up with my kids.

I’d love to try this :-)

I am sad to say that I do not have a green thumb (although I wish I did), but this looks easy enough to do. We currently buy living sprouts and love them on sandwiches, salads, in smoothies and to garnish/pretty up our dinners. This will be a great project for me to try with my 4 yr old son to help him eat more greens :)

Thanks for the reminder. My Mom used to have jars of sprouts on hand all the time in the eighties— let’s bring the fad back!

I love sprouts

I’m looking forward to trying this! Thank you!

This is an awesome idea. I am so glad I found you guys on twitter. I wanna try it someday :)

This seems pretty easy — easy enough to try, even with our busy lives. And nothing would taste better than something actually fresh and green that we grew in February!

Fantastic Project! Can’t wait to try it

I haven’t done this in years… Thanks for the inspiration!

I would LOVE to try this. I am craving spring in a big way and this might just be the trick! Thank you for sharing.

Very cool. Now…how to go about getting seeds that haven’t been manipulated…ideas?

Awesome instructions. I bought some organic sprouting mix and can’t wait to try it to jazz up my sandwiches and salads!

This is something that I think I can do.

Thanks for the great instructions! I will try some soon but would love to win the “starter kit”!

Thank you Queen of Green for this great idea, going to take a look around the house for these materials. Ahh I gotta get some seed first, will start this Thursday on pay day!

Thanks Again.

Lentils are my favorite sprouts, and I sprout them in a Salad Spinner. Wash, rinse, spin, twice a day, and leave them alone :) Lentils also store very well in the crisper in your fridge.

I’ve been looking for an economical way to start micro-greens. Looking for the right greens to start and where to buy during the winter months.

i LOVE this idea!! what a great way to get one’s greens!

Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. I have always wanted to grow my own sprouts but wasn’t sure how to do it. Now I do!

Thanks,