Bought a heap of pumpkin seeds recently and they looked dry and alittle brittle compared to the seeds l have always had, but l thought nothing of it at the time. Recently l fermented these seeds, but they tasted horrible and made me feel sick. Tried a second time and felt the same. Tried a third time, didn't feel as sick but they tasted horrible. Why the sudden change in taste and why were they making me feel so terrible? Normally they taste great and make me feel good.

Last night l had a careful look at the seeds and tasted one and compared them to my other lots of pumpkin seeds, and BAM it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Both lots tasted completely different, and now l know why. One of the batches of seeds were cooked.

It pays to be careful. Also, always get nuts in shells and develop a relationship with nut farmers and small business people who buy from nut farms, keep it intimate. Be careful of packaged foods because you never know if they are raw or cooked. Sprout all your seeds to make sure they are raw, and try to sprout nuts also. If nuts like almonds and hazel go moldy in a few days they are raw, if they don't they are cooked. Sprout tails in your nuts if you can, chestnuts and walnuts are good for this.

I got bitten by the pumpkin seeds because l weren't sprouting them due to being very poor sprouters, so l usually soak and ferment, but l paid the price.

A more common problem is that the seeds are just so old that they're dead and rancid. This is the usual case with sunflowers seeds (shelled). Fresh live ones are a nice even light grey throughout the batch. A bad batch has alot of dark seeds and darker seeds. Most batches are bad. I wait on sunflower seeds until I find the rare fresh lot and then stock up and store in the freezer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2015 01:30AM by brome.

Yes, sunflower is an issue, and so is chia. We need to find out when they are harvested and store properly. Sesame has no such problem.

Even nuts deteriorate quickly. I can sprout chestnuts for the first 6 months and then they suddenly become unsproutable.

Had some great almonds stright off the tree at a friend's place the other day. I couldn't stop eating them, so delicious.

We can't go worrying about rancid seeds, we can only do the best we can with the food that's available.

www.thesproutarian.com

My local organic coop is now carrying only Oregon Almonds and California ones, both steam pasteurized, but they assured me they were raw and could be sprouted because the company states that it does test after test and they say the almonds can be sprouted.

How can that be so?

When you soak a pasteurized almond, it puffs up right? Is that what they are calling sprouted?

ABOMINATION!!!!

Or is it really that these pasteurized seeds, can be soaked in water and you can grow it into a tree? For real? They are alive?

I do not believe it to be so and when I find out I will raise hell at my coop. All you true raw vegans out there, command to get truly raw almonds. Like Erewhon does. Label things properly. Steam pasteurized is not raw I don't care how much you want to support Almond farmers from the USA, it is not good for your body. It is dead. Like eating something dead.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2015 02:40PM by coconutcream.

Probably only seed companies keep seeds alive with proper storage. But properly stored at about 0 F seeds can remain viable for 100s or even many thousands of years.

[en.wikipedia.org]

[en.wikipedia.org]

[en.wikipedia.org]

[www.treehugger.com]

[news.nationalgeographic.com]

brome Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Probably only seed companies keep seeds alive with
> proper storage. But properly stored at about 0 F
> seeds can remain viable for 100s or even many
> thousands of years.
>
> [en.wikipedia.org]
> Vault
>
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> [www.treehugger.com]
> -tree-grows-anew-after-archaeologists-dig-ancient-
> seed-stockpile.html
>
> [news.nationalgeographic.com]
> 0221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science/

It's not hard for ordinary people to keep most seeds and nuts viable for many many years, if not decades, in their homes without resorting to temperatures needed to keep them viable for centuries. They will need further hydration and less O2 than people normally are used to though.

SueZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> brome Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Probably only seed companies keep seeds alive
> with
> > proper storage. But properly stored at about 0
> F
> > seeds can remain viable for 100s or even many
> > thousands of years.
> >
> >
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> > Vault
> >
> > [en.wikipedia.org]
> >
> > [en.wikipedia.org]
> >
> >
> [www.treehugger.com]
>
> >
> -tree-grows-anew-after-archaeologists-dig-ancient-
>
> > seed-stockpile.html
> >
> >
> [news.nationalgeographic.com]
>
> > 0221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science/
>
> It's not hard for ordinary people to keep most
> seeds and nuts viable for many many years, if not
> decades, in their homes without resorting to
> temperatures needed to keep them viable for
> centuries. They will need further hydration and
> less O2 than people normally are used to though.


Suez, maybe you can advise me on something l need to know.

If l put seeds in a sealable plastic bag and put in the freezer, will moisture form inside the bag and ruin the seeds? My freezer is only small, so that is a problem for me unless l buy a big one.

I still have your links to the mylar bags and oxygen absorbers, would that be enough if l put seeds in the bags and put in a freezer or just in a cool place?

I keep my oil seeds under the house in a sealed jar and cool area in the dark currently, but would like to do something better. -----

www.thesproutarian.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2015 11:56PM by The Sproutarian Man.

The Sproutarian Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> If l put seeds in a sealable plastic bag and put
> in the freezer, will moisture form inside the bag
> and ruin the seeds?

That would mostly depend on how dry they are when you put them in, whether your freezer cycles or not, how thick the plastic bags are and their pore size, and how well they are vacuum sealed, etc.


>
> I still have your links to the mylar bags and
> oxygen absorbers, would that be enough if l put
> seeds in the bags and put in a freezer or just in
> a cool place?

Even if they are dry enough you still will probably be safer adding some of the larger desiccant beads wrapped in cheesecloth bundles with them. They will take longer than you are used to waiting to soak and sprout when the time comes. It's best to experiment with small amounts at first so you can check on viability percentages, etc..

[www.amazon.com]