Sprouting
Want to grow fresh food at home but lack the space or time for a garden? Get sprouting with BioSnacky!
A.Vogel offers a wide range of high-quality organic sprouting seeds and tried and tested sprouters that let you grow fresh herbs and sprouts indoors whatever the weather outside. Sprouts are an amazing source of easily absorbed nutrition, including protein, vitamins, and minerals, and can add flavour and fun, as well as some crunch, to run off the mill salads and stir fries.
You can also use sprouts to make delicious and nutritious dips, spreads, and raw crackers and snacks, canapés, soups, muesli, burgers, omelettes, and casseroles. And, for the adventurous among you, consider using sprouts to make rejuvelac, a probiotic-rich water that can be used to make homemade cultured cheese from nuts!
BioSnacky sprouting seeds are organic, untreated, free from additives and genetic engineering, and offer an easy way to grow fresh food at home at a low cost. And because you’re growing these from seed to plate, you know for sure that you’re eating fresh food grown without pesticides, herbicides, or other nasty chemicals.
How do you sprout, though? Glad you asked.
The smallest greenhouse in the world – BioSnacky® germinator
There are plenty of sprouters available, and you can even make your own at home, but by far the best model out there is the BioSnacky glass germinator from A.Vogel. If you’re new to sprouting, this is the model for you. It’s practically foolproof and can be used for all sprouting seeds aside from cress (which is too small for most sprouters!).
Most sprouting seeds need to be soaked for a few hours or overnight to get them started. The time depends on the seeds, so check the instructions on your BioSnacky pack or the leaflet that comes with the germinator.
The beauty of the classic germinator is that it has three large, transparent seed trays that allow you to sprout different types of seeds simultaneously. Some seeds take a couple of days to be ready to eat, while others can take a week or so. With three trays, you can also keep sprouts in constant rotation, setting some seeds soaking twice a week or so to replace those you use.
One downside of sprouters is that they can be a pain to clean, what with all those tiny drainage holes. The easiest method is to throw the trays in the dishwasher. Not all sprouters are dishwasher safe, but BioSnacky germinators are. You can also clean them by hand – it helps to soak them first and then use a scrubbing brush to get into the nooks and crannies.
Some great starter sprouting seeds
If you’ve never sprouted seeds before, consider easy to grow sprouts such as alfalfa, radish, green or brown whole lentils, and mung beans. Adzuki beans and chickpeas/garbanzo beans are another great choice and are easy to handle thanks to their size.
Bear in mind that you generally can’t use any old dried beans or seeds from the supermarket as these are usually irradiated, so they won’t sprout. Seeds from a garden store, meanwhile, are typically treated with fungicides and are best avoided as edible foods in themselves.
In general, you’ll want to soak about a tablespoon of seeds or beans each time. For alfalfa, use about half a tablespoon. Rinse the beans or seeds in cool water and then soak overnight or for six hours. Rinse again and drain thoroughly, then add to the sprouting trays and position the germinator in a warm (but not hot!) place with indirect light.
Rinse and drain the seeds in the trays twice a day with cool water. Harvesting the sprouts when the tails are short makes for sweeter sprouts perfect for salads. Don’t worry if they run a little long though; these can be used for more savoury dishes. Sprouts with discoloured tails or that taste bitter should be thrown away (in the compost!)
If you won’t be using the sprouts right away, store them in a closed container in the refrigerator. They will keep well for a few days as long as you keep rinsing them daily.
Be sure not to overpack the trays or other sprouter. Crowding makes it harder to properly rinse and drain the sprouts, which can lead to slime and mold. If sprouts start to smell funky or are slimy to the touch, don’t eat them (put them in the compost!).
Sprouts are a great way to ‘garden’ all year round with kids and involving them with the sprouting process can encourage healthier eating too.