A sprouty tale

Well I can quite honestly say I’ve never experienced such awful weather in June! What is going on? Most of my plants are still in my polytunnel, which has just had the side blown off!

So since it’s not easy or much fun to be gardening in the actual garden I thought I’d share a great idea which I use all year round to provide myself with the most fantastic, organic, living food source!

Yes you may have guessed I’m talking about sprouting your own seeds, which are nature’s miracle and probably the most underestimated food available to us today, incredibly easy, fast, inexpensive so nutritious and absolutely delicious!

Sprouts are an exceptional food source. If you consider that every wee seed contains everything locked within it to grow into a plant and sprouting initiates that growth then by eating them we are accessing all of that great nutrition! Sprouts are rich in natural plant enzymes which are vital in maintaining digestive and overall health. Enzymes are perhaps the most vital ingredient in our food but are sadly they are woefully deficient because of modern cooking and processing methods.

Sprouted grains and seeds represent nutrition at its simplest which provides us with a direct link to nature itself! I really love that connection, that’s where Nourished by Nature came from. You really can’t beat organic food you have grown yourself and sprouting seeds is as about as simple as it gets. 

Sprouts have such a complete nutritional profile - we literally could live on them and nothing else!

However raw grains, seeds and pulses contain enzyme inhibitors which ensure the seeds don’t sprout prematurely before the conditions are right. These enzyme inhibitors interfere with our digestion by preventing our own digestive enzymes from working properly and preventing us from utilising and absorbing some of the nutrition and causing digestive upset.

Cooking destroys most of the enzyme inhibitors but unfortunately also destroys all the beneficial plant enzymes which we need to make the food complete and digestible.

So to sprout a seed is to let nature convert it into a perfect food. No man-made process can match the way that plant enzymes effortlessly change all the inert proteins, fats and starches into amino acids, essential fatty acids and simple sugars, which are easy for us to absorb and utilise.

So much of our food is so far removed from its natural form, refined and processed to be almost unrecognisable as food; so sprouted grains and seeds represent nutrition at its most pure and simplest and actually provides us with a direct link to nature itself.

I sprout seeds and lentils all year round.

I use a three tiered sprouting tray from ……. http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/being-fare/being-fare-salad-sprouters/?PCode=DSGPESS15&gclid=Cj0KEQjw-tSrBRCk8bzDiO__gbwBEiQAk-D31U0_rUNxVUTWqFqgBNCyS-zTqKsFpP4AHa7tlTcwsX0aAkWE8P8HAQ

You can also use a large glass jar , with a piece of muslin secured with a rubber band but it’s a bit of a faff to be honest and I’m all for making life easier so I’d highly recommend the tiered tray. It’s so simple, you don’t need to pre-soak anything. Just pour a single layer of your chosen seeds in each of the trays with the solid green collecting tray underneath and rinse them twice a day under the tap. You can use the collected water for your plants or just empty it down the sink. I find the seeds do best away from direct sunlight so don’t put them on a sunny windowsill, they will dry out too fast. Just put them on your kitchen worktop near the sink for ease of rinsing! Seeds and lentils tend to sprout at different rates so you can just use them as they are ready. I also move the trays around a bit, the top tray dries out quicker so rotate them every day or so.

My favourite things to sprout are green lentils, puy lentils, mung beans, alfalfa seeds, broccoli seeds and sunflower seeds.

Always use organic seeds if possible, I get mine from www.skysprouts.co.uk for great value and quality.

I buy loose organic lentils from Locavore or Wholefoods.

They all taste different, broccoli seeds are a wee bit hot like radishes, green lentils are just deliciously sweet and juicy, alfalfa seeds are finer with a slightly fresh leafy taste, mung beans are actually otherwise known as beansprouts, although much smaller if you sprout them yourself. Commercial ones are grown under controlled conditions, in the dark I think so that they are very pale but long and crunchy! You can literally sprout any grain, lentil, bean or seed so just try a few to find your favourites.

But rest assured whatever you sprout will add incredible nutrition and vibrant living energy to your life and who doesn’t want more of that??

If you don’t fancy sprouting your own seeds, although I don’t know why you wouldn’t given the health benefits, Wholefoods sell a good selection from Sky Sprouts, which is the company I order my seeds from. Although they are packaged in plastic containers which is not great for the environment, and end up in landfill. So I’d strongly recommend you start sprouting your own!

Another great thing about sprouts is they are so versatile and will generally keep in a covered container in the fridge for 4 or 5 days; here are just a few of my favourite ways of enjoying them:

Delicious simply on their own as a snack

Juice them or add to smoothies

Use as garnish for soups

Sprinkle on salads

Use in wraps

Great as a topping on oatcakes, rice cakes or crackers with coconut oil, tahini and slices cucumber or tomato

So what’s stopping you……Happy Sprouting!!!

 

                    …your health in your hands…